China’s passenger-car sales rose 4.5 percent in March, beating analyst estimates, as dealerships increased discounts to attract buyers amid record fuel prices. Deliveries of passenger automobiles, including multipurpose and sport-utility vehicles, climbed to 1.4 million units last month, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said today in a statement. Sales were projected to increase 3.9 percent, according to the average estimate of a Bloomberg News survey of eight analysts. The rebo

PARIS (AFP) ― French automaker Renault has signed a preliminary agreement to produce cars in China with domestic partner Dongfeng, a source close to the matter told AFP on Friday.The deal marks “the end of an initial step ahead of an agreement,” the source said, and would provide Renault with its first factory in the world’s biggest car market.Renault, which declined to comment on the information, said last year that it would begin to build cars in China after 2014.The French group has already e

South Korea’s car exports reached a record high in March, fueled by strong overseas demand for small-sized vehicles and sport utility vehicles, a government report showed Monday.Overseas vehicle shipments surged 18.1 percent on-year to 305,257 units last month, with total domestic production moving up 6.3 percent to 420,759 vehicles, according to the report by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.The ministry said overseas sales were bolstered by 30.4 percent increase in small-sized cars and 17.4 p

Hyundai Motors and its affiliate Kia Motors are stepping up their efforts to support subcontractors’ recruiting.The two companies said Monday that they will hold a series of job fairs to hire jobseekers for subcontractors, including auto parts manufacturers, between April 25 and May 10.The automotive job fairs will start at the COEX in Samseong-dong in southern Seoul on April 25. The event in Seoul will run though April 26.The same events are scheduled for provincial cities such as Gwangju and D

Shanghai being mentioned as new Asian production base for GMObservers in the automobile industry are reviving the rumor that GM Korea will relocate its automobile manufacturing base in Incheon to a foreign country.The rumor has resurfaced as the Korean unit of U.S. General Motors has failed to post noteworthy sales performances despite changing the company name from GM Daewoo to GM Korea and introducing the Chevrolet brand in 2011.Following earlier speculation that GM Korea’s core production fac

Sporting the same flaming red racing colours, Ducati motorcycles are sometimes referred to as Ferraris on two wheels.The Italian brand has achieved success on the race track despite competition from much larger manufacturers including the likes of Japan’s Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki and Germany’s BMW.For years dominant in the Superbike World Championship, Ducati in 2007 clinched top honours in the premiere Moto GP category with rider Casey Stoner. The buzz around the team increased last year when i

Toyota Motor Corp. raised its forecast for 2012 industrywide U.S. sales of cars and light trucks to the low- to mid-14 million unit range from 13.6 million, citing rising consumer confidence.“We’re starting to see improvement in consumer confidence and, combined with rising fuel prices and aging vehicles, the market is starting to move,” Bob Carter, Toyota’s group vice president for U.S. sales, told reporters Wednesday at the New York auto show. “It’s happening quicker than anyone thought.”U.S.

Monthly sales of import automobiles hit an all-time high of 10,648 units in March, while Korean carmakers such as Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors suffered lackluster sales at home.According to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association, foreign carmakers saw their combined sales grow by 3.5 percent from a year earlier and 15.8 percent from a month before.The former monthly record was 10,290 units, posted in March 2011.For the first quarter of 2012, their sales increased by 13.9 perce

Four out of the five major automakers suffered a year-on-year drop in sales in the local market in the first quarter of 2012 amid sluggish private consumption.Hyundai Motor saw its sales at home post 154,855 units in the first quarter, down 7.1 percent from 166,749 units over the same period in 2011.For March sales, the nation’s largest automaker reported a 9.5 percent drop with 56,022 units at home, compared with 61,932 units a year earlier.By contrast, its exports, including production at over