September 06, 2008

Chang’an Automobile starts making own hybrid car

Xinhua news agency reported that Chinese automaker Chang’an Automobile group has started making its own hybrid cars. Xinhua said that “This shows Chinese automakers have grasped the core technology of making hybrid cars.”

It is noted that fuel economy figures little in consumers’ purchasing decisions in China. Hybrid cars are consuming 20% less fuel than ordinary cars of the same size and also expensive since the government offers buyers no incentives to purchase them. Toyota Motor Corp was the first carmaker to build hybrid cars in China.

Japan’s Nikkei said that the hybrid vehicle made by Chang’an is based on a 2 liter compact wagon that will be able to travel 100 kilometers on 6.8 liters of gasoline and it will be officially released in 2008. Nikkei said that the new hybrid is close in size to Toyota’s Prius hybrid, which the Japanese automaker has assembled and sold in China since late 2005.

Changan’s new offering will cost around CNY 150,000 roughly CNY 20,000 more than the base vehicle but just half as much as the Prius. It added that Chinese sales of the Toyota hybrid were down by 86% to 299 units in the January to October 2007 period from January to October 2006 period as the vehicle’s CNY 300,000 price tag dampened its popularity.