SsangYong Motor, a Korean unit of China's SAIC Motor Corp, announced that it restarted operation at its plants on Monday, said sina.com today.

SAIC-GM-Wuling Auto Co., Ltd., a Chinese venture of GM and leading manufacturer of mini-trucks and mini-vans in China, reported all-time high sales of 75,168 units in January, according to Qilu Evening News today.

On a day when every major new car company reported dismal sales figures, the Democrats in the Senate pushed to add incentives to the stimulus plan that would reward buyers of new cars.

Ford Motor Company's Asia Pacific and Africa region headquarters, with supporting corporate functions, will be moving to China, Ford Motor (China) Ltd told Gasgoo.com today. Thailand (Bangkok) will continue to serve as Ford's ASEAN regional headquarters.

Dongfeng Automobile Co., Ltd., is a subsidiary of Dongfeng Motors, said it sold 170,000 commercial vehicles in 2008, representing total value of 17 billion yuan($2.48 billion) , Hubei News said today.

Many Chinese automakers including Changan Auto, SAIC, FAW Xiali and Jianghuai, have warned that their net profit for 2008 may have dropped by 50 to 100 percent due to sluggish demand and higher material costs.

China's imported vehicle sales will drop by 10% in 2009 due to the global economic downturn, with the largest decline likely to occur in the first quarter, Beijing Morning Post reported, citing Ding Hongxiang, director and general manager of China Automobile Trading Co.

A refined oil price war between PetroChina Co., Ltd. and China PetroChemical Co., Ltd. (Sinopec), two of the country's oil tycoons, has lasted more than one month but now it shows a sign of cooling down, xinhuanet.com reported today.

Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) has selected Israel, the UK, and Spain as its first target countries to sell its cars in Europe as of early 2010, Israeli trade portal Port2port said Monday.

China Association of Automobile Manufacturers unveiled the country's top 10 passenger vehicle sellers (including minivans) in 2008, industry website caixun.com reported Monday.

Nissan Motor will introduce its latest super sports car GT-R to China this year, to be priced at one million yuan($147,000) or more, Beijing News reported today.

FAW-Toyota, the joint venture between China's FAW Group and Japanese carmaker Toyota Motor, reported sales of 372,688 vehicles in 2008, surging by 129% over a year before, Shanghai Securities News reported today.