Chinese car maker Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corp (BAIC) said it was reassessing the situation after a consortium it belonged to dropped a bid to buy General Motors’ Saab unit.

China’s relatively cash-rich automakers have shown an increasing interest in overseas purchases, looking to pick up global brands and technology at bargain prices as the world’s auto industry undergoes a major retrenchment.

Check out the TIMELINE that traces some of their proposed, failed or ongoing deals reported this year as the Chinese chased Volvo, Opel, Saab and Hummer.

Those who have followed the Nissan GT-R since it was named the Skyline GT-R (R32) know that there was a variant called the M-Spec. While the R34 V-Spec was made for the track, the M-Spec was more of a grand tourer, providing the best of both the performance and comfort worlds.

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“We’ve always planned that after we released the SpecV, we were going to build the SpecM,” says Kazutoshi Mizuno, the man behind the current GT-R (R35),. SpecM will be sold for around 18,000,000 yen (the equivalent of over $200k). That sexy thing is worth every penny!

Asian automakers are still building the most reliable cars and trucks, with 8 of the top 10 brands from Japanese and Korean companies, according to an annual survey by Consumer Reports.

But several models from Ford Motor Co. are now consistently scoring above Honda and Toyota, the perennial leaders.

While Toyota’s youth-oriented Scion brand finished first for the second year in a row, several Ford models, including the midsize Ford Fusion and its cousin, the Mercury Milan, consistently have been at or near the top of their classes, a trend that led Consumer Reports editors to declare that Ford is now making some vehicles with world-class reliability.

Toyota Motor Corp. has unveiled a more expensive and bigger hybrid-only model than its hit Prius, underlining the Japanese automaker’s ambitions to make green technology more widespread.

The “Sai” sedan is Toyota’s second hybrid-only model after the Prius. Toyota offers hybrid versions of other car models.

Sai, which means “talent” and “color,” will be sold only in Japan, starting Dec.7, targeting monthly sales of 3,000 vehicles. No global sales plans have been decided, the world’s biggest automaker said. Nice! Bring some of those over here.

While the U.S. and European dealers have to create tempting incentive plans to get cars off their lots, Chinese dealerships literally have waiting lists of customers who want to buy cars and are willing to take a spot in the queue. In China, only 2.9% of the population owns cars. That’s only about 38 million cars on the streets of China’s cities and villages. Compare that to the United States, where 238 million vehicles are on the road.
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The New York Times reports that the GM has agreed to sell its Hummer SUVs and trucks to the Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company Ltd., a western Chinese machinery company that would like to start making cars.

Back in 2003, when Hummers were selling like hotcakes or war rationales, corporate spokeswoman Heather Hal said this about her brand: “The folks who buy Hummer are confident, self-assured and entrepreneurial. They like the vehicle because they see in it what they see in themselves.” That is one distinct American souvenir they’ll be building.

According to Japanese automotive magazine Mag-X, Honda is finalising the design and details for the 2012 Civic. Apparently, the Japanese automaker is planning to come up with different versions of the car for different markets. Different sedan, coupe and hatch versions!

This is all, of course, nothing more than back-fence talk and speculation. Do you like what you see so far?

Ever notice that nobody makes a fuss about buying televisions made in Korea or coats sewn in Mexico. But if you’re buying a car, your patriotism is questioned?

Let’s not forget that Honda was the first Japanese firm to build cars in the U.S. starting 50 years ago. The impact has been overwhelmingly positive: According to a study from the Center for Automotive Research, more than 367,000 private sector jobs and $17 billion in annual wages are generated thanks to Honda’s U.S. operations.
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Honda’s Insight, billed as the cheapest gas-electric hybrid on the market, ranked as the top-selling vehicle in Japan for April — the first time a hybrid has clinched that spot. That marked the first time a hybrid model was Japan’s monthly best-seller, excluding minicars limited to an engine size of up to 660 cubic centimeters.

Honda sold 10,481 Insight cars in April in Japan. Toyota is expected to be aggressive with its pricing, although the Prius is a bigger car than the Insight and would be expected to carry a higher price tag.

Ford may be standing taller than General Motors in Detroit these days, but in China the tables are turned. G.M. is a powerful presence here with 8 to 10% of the market for cars, minivans and sport utility vehicles, making it the second-largest automaker in China for such vehicles, passed only by Volkswagen.

Unlike the gas guzzlers churned out by G.M.’s North American operation, the company’s China division has emphasized fuel-sipping models in the last decade. And after the government introduced a subsidy of $730 last month for vehicle buyers in rural areas, G.M.’s Wuling operation can barely build minivans fast enough.
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China’s BYD Auto said it is in talks to sell its battery products to overseas automakers as part of a bid to take a lead in the alternative energy vehicle sector. The firm is also in discussions with foreign governments regarding electric car projects.

BYD Auto is part of the BYD group, a Hong Kong-listed firm partially owned by US investment guru Warren Buffett. BYD stands for “build your dream”.

BYD Auto beat other products, such as General Motors’ Volt, when it launched F3DM, a plug-in hybrid, in China late last year. The company has said earlier the hybrid car is scheduled to go on sale in the United States and Europe in 2011. Looking forward to seeing these BYDs.

China’s auto sales hit a monthly record of 1.11 million vehicles in March, exceeding U.S. sales for the third month in a row, as tax cuts and rebates for small car purchases lured buyers back into showrooms.

The data confirmed that sales remained robust in China, the world’s second biggest auto market, despite deteriorating conditions in most major markets. China is bound to eventually overtake the U.S. as the world’s largest auto market, and recent developments have accelerated that trend.
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Chinese premier Wen Jiabao announced a crackdown on government “hospitality” budgets, including a 15% cut in car-buying and fuel funds.

Wen ordered an across-the-board halt to the building of any new office compounds before the end of 2010, or any glitzy buildings in the names of training centers, hotels, or government motels. They agreed to strictly control the government’s “hospitality” money used for receiving guests, the car-buying and fuel budgets, and officials’ overseas tours using public money.
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What’s going on with that Beetle? A Chinese car dealer covered a car in chocolate for Valentines Day. About 200kgs of melted chocolate was spread over the VW Beetle after it was first wrapped in cling film.

Seven people worked overnight to make sure the chocolate car was ready to go on display on the morning of Valentines Day. Love it! I’d drive and eat it.

The gov’t in Okayama, Japan will offer city residents 100,000 yen ($1,680) subsidies to purchase new cars made by Mitsubishi Motors Co., which has reduced operations at its Mizushima plant in Kurashiki, in the prefecture, due to sluggish sales.

The city government will provide the subsidies for those purchasing new Mitsubishi passenger cars, minicars and pickup trucks. Earmarking 20 million yen in a supplementary budget to subsidize 200 purchases, the city plans to distribute the subsidies as early as February. The city also plans to purchase about 10 Mitsubishi vehicles to be used as official vehicles.

Toyota is projecting its first operating loss in 70 years.

There’s a trend worrying Japan’s auto executives, who fear the nation’s love affair with the auto may be coming to an end. The mentality from earlier generations of Japanese who viewed car ownership as a status symbol has now made a U-turn.

Young people’s interest is shifting from cars to communication tools like personal computers, mobile phones and services. Vehicle sales peaked at 7.78 million vehicles in 1990 during the nation’s heyday “bubble” economy. After that burst, Japan was mired in a decade-long slowdown, which squelched consumer spending and sent car sales on a decline. A surge in gas prices didn’t help too.
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Beginning today, 1 January, Beijing is implementing a plan to ban vehicles that do not meet the Euro 1 emissions standard, which was adopted in China in 1992. It took 16 years to enforce your original standard? Before the 2008 Olympic Games in April, the environmental watchdog of Beijing labeled the city’s heavy-polluting vehicles “Yellow”.

Yellow label cars will be prohibited from driving within the 5th ring road beginning 1 January, and banned within the 6th ring road beginning 1 October. Let’s hope other countries catch on to this plan soon.
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Toyota Motor Corp is recalling 121,930 cars in China to fix a problem that could result in loss of steering control.

The 54,657 Reiz and 62,517 Crown sedans were made by Toyota’s venture with FAW Group between February 2005 and October 2006. The recall comes in the wake of more bad news this week for the world’s biggest automaker which forecast a first-ever annual operating loss amid tanking global car demand. Talk about bad timing.

Imports once again dominated Kelley Blue Book’s annual ranking of the most-researched new vehicles on its website. Of the top 20 vehicles, 15 were Japanese, 3 were American and 2 were German.

Given the spike in gas prices earlier in the year and the recent slump in the economy and stock market, shoppers gravitated toward fuel-efficient, economical models.

1. Honda Civic
2. Honda Accord
3. Toyota Camry
4. Toyota Corolla
5. Nissan Altima
6. Honda CR-V
7. Toyota Prius
8. Toyota Highlander
9. Toyota RAV4
10. Mazda3
11. Toyota Yaris
12. Ford Escape
13. Honda Odyssey
14. Honda Pilot
15. Honda Fit
16. Ford Mustang
17. Chevrolet Malibu
18. Toyota Sienna
19. Mini Cooper
20. Volkswagen Jetta

Beijing is aiming at avoid a US-style collapse of the local auto sector by offering incentives, such as the option for car owners to scrap their old models in favour of new ones, in a bid to lift the auto industry as it enters a period of crisis. Chinese auto sales fell 14.6% in November from a year earlier.

Other measures that China may adopt to bolster auto sales include cuts in the 10% vehicle purchase tax and easier access to car loans. Good to see others are taking action after witnessing the U.S. auto industry’s mistakes.