Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor Corp and U.S. Freescale Semiconductor plan to set up a joint automotive electronics design lab in China. The move aims at developing the electronic systems for next-generation vehicles for the Chinese market and for exports.

BYD Auto is set to launch the automatic model of its F3 sedan by March this year, and the new car will be equipped with the 1.6L Mitsubishi 4G18 engine and priced below 90,000 yuan ($13,200), said xinhuanet.com today.

Zonda Industrial Group said it will appeal the ruling of the bus copyright infringement lawsuit filed by German auto company Neoplan Bus GmbH, china.com said, citing a Zonda executive.

BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd., a joint venture between German carmaker BMW and Brilliance China Auto, has started expanding its manufacturing base as the second-phase project in Shenyang, northeastern China, Beijing News reported today.

Dongfeng Motor Corp has set a target to sell 1.4 million vehicles this year, against 1.32 million units in 2008, the official Xinhua News Agency reported today.

Cadillac, General Motors' luxury vehicle brand, debuted its next-generation Cadillac SRX in production form at the North American International (Detroit) Auto Show on Jan.12.

Great Wall Motor, China's largest maker and exporter of pickups and SUVs, is planning to explore the overseas rural markets, said xinhuanet.com today. This will help boost the company's exports and sales growth amid the economic crisis.

China's top 5 best-selling MPV brands sold 127,600 units in 2008, accounting for 65% of the year's total MPV sales in the country, with Brilliance Grace gaining growth while all other brands sales decline, said xinhuanet.com today, citing data from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

Audi, a premium brand subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, has announced that its sales in China, including Hong Kong, increased 17% year on year (y/y) to 119,598 vehicles in 2008, sina.com said today. Construction of a new assembly plant in Changchun has started to expand production capacity.

The all-new Insight was shown to journalists in Europe for the first time at a press event in Valencia.

On Jan. 20 when China began to halve the sales / purchase tax on 1.6L-minus vehicles to 5%, there were more than 210 new vehicles registered for license plates in Changchun city, more than doubling the less than 100 vehicles previously registered each day, xinhuanet.com reported today.

Chinese bus-maker Zhongwei Bus & Coach Group has failed in a patent infringement lawsuit and is asked to pay more than 20 million yuan ($2.93 million) as compensation for Neoplan Bus GmbH, a subsidiary of Man Group, a Beijing-based newspaper reported Wednesday.