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AUDI E Concept Noticed something unusual with this new concept from Audi? The grill (or rather the lack of one), it headlights, taillights on the rear bumper, or yah you get it, the missing 4 rings. If I tell you this is NOT an Audi, I believe one of the very first thing that pops up in your mind is that this a copycat from China, am I correct? Well the car IS from China, but just NOT copycat. This isn’t an Audi but an AUDI. Confused? So am I. Audi Is Launching a New Car Company Called… AUDI tl;dr: This a new sub brand by Audi and China SAIC, for the Chinese. With many new sub-brand formed in China every other weeks, they decided to go with AUDI and call it a day. To prevent confusion (what an irony), its logo is a 4 letter words in capital, instead of the 4 rings on the parent Audi. These AUDIs will peacefully coexist with the regular crop of Audis featuring the historic logo harkening back to the Auto Union era. And you have guess, the brand new AUDI will only be carrying EVs, no gasoline model in its lineup of 3 model (in 2025). On a side note, if one day you see a CARBON82 in MCF, it is not me but maybe a new account of Carbon82 for posting some nonsense here. @kobayashiGT boleh / KYM?

https://uk.motor1.com/news/542379/ssangyong-to-be-sold-260million/ "SsangYong to be sold for only £188 million It wasn't a buttery smooth ride for the South Korean automaker. SsangYong is reportedly getting a fresh start, thanks to a six-year-old electric vehicle startup. The South Korean automaker filed for bankruptcy in December 2020 and is currently under court receivership. According to Nikkei Asia, SsangYong named an Edison Motors-led tie-up as its preferred bidder. The deal is said to be worth around $260 million,(approx. £188 million) according to the publication's sources. The automaker and the bidder are expected to finalise and ink a corporate agreement towards the end of November. Edison was founded in 2015 and is known to make electric buses and develop commercial trucks. Its interest in SsangYong can be attributed to its intention to penetrate the passenger vehicle market, with the aim to mass-produce passenger EVs in the automaker's factory in Pyeongtaek. To say that SsangYong Motor has a smooth-sailing corporate life would be blatant lie. Starting its life in 1986, South Korea's fourth-largest automaker began its world-renown in 1991 with its high-profile partnership with Daimler, enabling it to develop an SUV with Mercedes-Benz technology. Then in 1997, Daewoo bought a controlling stake at SsangYong. That was short-lived as Daewoo then sold off its shares. Chinese automaker SAIC bought a 51 percent stake of SsangYong in 2004. In 2009, the company reported a $75.42 million (£54.63 million) loss, putting the company under court receivership. Mahindra & Mahindra took over the company in 2011, costing the Indian company $463.6 million (£335.8 million). And while it looked like the Korean automaker was back on its feet during its time with Mahindra, it could not recover completely, which led to its current debt-laden state today. SsangYong isn't about to give up despite its long trail of troubles. The company has announced a design concept called the X200 showing its intention to capitalise on the rising tide of boxy SUVs."

Okay, electrification is getting real and sooner or later we might have to switch our car to EV for zero emission. I am not a hardcore car enthusiast compared to some folks here who are reading this, but I do like my current car. And it will be inevitable to part way with her one day. So I chance upon this puny yet mouthful mini EV that can sit 4. The Wuling hongguang mini EV. 🙂 This car only cost like $4,000 USD in china and it ticks all the box for a city driving car. This car only have 18bhp, 85nm of torque. This car can only travel like 170km before you need to send it for a charge. And this, I think it will be a good thing. Because you will get used to the charging more often than those big car. Even thou, I don't think it will come to Singapore, but if it does. I am very open to give this a try if the price is right. 🙂 And my first mod for this car will be debadging it. 🤣

Alibaba and SAIC have joined forces to launch an all-new automotive brand called IM (智己). Set to become China’s latest premium electric vehicle maker, the company will have a lineup that includes a stylish sedan and crossover. The sedan features a streamlined design and an intelligent lighting system which reportedly consists of 2.6 million pixels of light. They can be used to show animations as well as the charging status. Besides the high-tech lights, the sedan has flush-mounted door handles and aerodynamic wheels. We can also see a panoramic glass roof, a roof-mounted sensor pod and full-width taillights. The upscale styling continues in the cabin as drivers will find semi-aniline leather, wood trim and metallic accents. The sedan has also been equipped with dual pane windows and electric closing doors. Those features are nice, but they’re largely overshadowed by a 39-inch widescreen display that rises out of the dashboard and is broken up into three different sections. If that wasn’t enough screen space, there’s a secondary 12.8-inch display that ramps out of the center console like in the 2021 Mercedes S-Class. Speaking of technology, the car has been equipped with 15 high-definition cameras, 12 ultrasonic sensors and five millimeter wave radars. They’re used for the semi-autonomous driving system and Tesla-like summon feature. At the end of the year, IM will reportedly offer point-to-point autonomous driving. Details are limited and it’s reportedly dependent on government approval. However, NVIDIA confirmed the vehicles use their DRIVE Orin compute platform and have multiple Orin SoCs. They allow for “500 to 1,000+ TOPS [trillion operations per second] of performance for automated and autonomous capabilities in addition to in-cabin personalization that is continuously upgradable over-the-air for a truly software-defined experience.” On the performance front, there are two electric motors which give the vehicles all-wheel drive as well as a combined output of 536 hp (400 kW / 544 PS) and 516 lb-ft (700 Nm) of torque. This will enable the sedan to accelerate from 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) in 3.9 seconds. A 93 kWh battery comes standard, while a 115 kWh battery will also be available. With the latter, the sedan will reportedly have a range of up to 543 miles (874 km) in the NEDC cycle. Interestingly, the car is set to come with the world’s first mass-produced high-speed wireless electric vehicle charger. It charges at up to 11 kW and can give the car a range of 43-50 miles (70-80 km) in as little as an hour. Getting back to performance, the vehicles ride on an aluminum architecture and feature chassis tuning by Williams. We can also expect an adaptive damping system and rear wheel steering. The sedan will be showcased at the Shanghai Auto Show in April, while the crossover will follow in 2022.

Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) has signed a deal with Thailand's Charoen Pokphand Group to set up an assembly plant in the land of thousand smiles. The investment will cost SAIC 1.8 million yuan in the initial stage. SAIC will hold 51% stake in the joint venture while Charoen Pokphand Group will hold the rest of the 49%. Production will begin in 2014 with a minimum capacity of 50,000 units per year. With the investment, SAIC hopes to expand its business into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The first model to be produced in Thailand will be the MG 6, which is also being manufactured in the UK besides China. From a cost point of view, it is more economical to set up plants in foreign countries than to export, probably due to savings in shipping expenses. The MG 6 is based on the Roewe 550 sedan, which is in turn based on the Rover 75, a model dating back in 1999. The 4.6m long MG 6 is powered by a turbocharged 1.8-litre k-series engine producing 160bhp. All models are equipped with a 5-speed manual transmission.

[extract] SAIC-owned MG returned to the UK market in 2011 with the MG6 compact sedan. In saloon and five-door body styles, sales of the MG6 in the UK was found wanting with only 15 units sold in October 2011. This should not come as a surprise as the MG6 is based on SAIC

[extract] Roewe has unveiled their latest flagship sedan, the Roewe 950. Roewe is a luxury automotive marque owned by the Chinese automaker SAIC Motor. The car is based on the Buick LaCrosse, which uses GM

[extract] When Proton acquired Lotus in 1996, many felt that it is hard to see something or anything with regards to the collaboration between the two companies. Lotus has always been an automaker which specialises in sports and racing cars while Proton builds economical sedans and hatchbacks. Perhaps it was an ideal business moment for Proton to acquire Lotus at that time and over the years; we could see that Proton has used Lotus