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.

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.

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.

The latest data from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) show that the top three Chinese automakers by sales in 2008 are SAIC Group, FAW Group and Dongfeng Motor. The China Big Three sold 4.57 million vehicles last year, accounting for 48.7% of the country's auto sales of 2008, compared with 46.9% in 2007, xinhuanet.com reported today.

Volkswagen has recently said its sales in the Chinese market, including Hong Kong and Macao, grew 12.5% in 2008 to 1.024 million vehicles. The figure exceeded the target of 1 million and the growth rate was the fastest of all Volkswagen markets in the world, xinhuanet.com reported.

A report by China International Marine Containers (Group) Co., Ltd (CIMC), the world's largest shipping container maker said yesterday that it had come to agreement on setting up a truck venture with two domestic partners, one of which involved Chery Auto’s stock-holding companies.

In 2009, Mercedes-Benz will launch its first hybrid model S400 BlueHYBRID, a gasoline-electric hybrid based on the S-Class sedan, and a more advanced diesel-electric hybrid version of the M-Class SUV, said cheshi.com today. The two Mercedes-Benz hybrid models may be introduced to China later this year.

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.