Reply to thread

See what others are reading now! Try Forums > Current Activity

Message: <blockquote data-quote="digitalcom" data-source="post: 1042181" data-attributes="member: 18841">Jaguar Owned by Ford - under the control of Ford (Europe) Sub-brand Daimler Introduction Together with Volvo, Land Rover and Aston Martin, Jaguar is managed by the PAG (Premier Automotive Group) within Ford. PAG was set up and managed by ex-BMW executive Wolfgang Reitzle in 1999. He set an especially ambitious expansion plan for Jaguar, hoping to increase annual sales from 50,000 units to more than 200,000 units. The core of the program was the introduction of a small Jaguar, the X-Type, to rival BMW 3-Series. But sales of the car has been disappointing, dragging Jaguar into heavy loss and led to the quit of Reitzle.In late 2004, Jaguar announced a cost cutting program, including the closure of its historical plant at Browns Lane (used to build XJ and XK), layoff 15% staffs, integrated R&D with Land Rover and Aston Martin at Gaydon and killed Jaguar F1 team. In the future product planning, Jaguar is likely to return to produce high-end executive cars only, meaning there might be no successor to the X-Type.Strangely, Jaguar owns the brand name "Daimler" like the three-pointed star. Gottlieb Daimler, the inventor of motor car, set up his UK subsidiary in 1896 but then the company was sold. In 1960, Jaguar bought the Daimler factory in Conventry to cope with sales expansion. Since then the name was used to badge the highest specified XJ6 but actually the brand image is not very clear. Sales figure 2003: 118,918 cars2002: 130,000 cars, including 73,600 X-Type2001: 100,770 cars2000: 90,031 cars1999: 75,312 cars1998: 50,200 carsLocation Headquarters and R&D: Browns Lane, Conventry Plants: Castle Bromwich (S-Type, XJ and XK), Halewood (X-Type)Brief History Like Porsche and Ferrari, Jaguar’s success was driven by one man, William Lyons. The young Lyons emerged as a "side car" maker in the 20’s. "Side car" is the additional passenger compartment attached to the side of motorcycle. Of course, that couldn’t fulfil Lyons’ ambition. Therefore he started building his own car based on the mass production Austin Seven or Morris but with his own chassis and body. In 1935, the stylish sports car SS100 was launched and amazed the world by its beauty and bargain price.However, the SS was more a coach-builder’s car because it had engine, running gear and various parts underneath the body supplied by the mass production market. Therefore, his engineer William Heynes designed the XK engine which became the driving force of Jaguar’s cars for some 40 years. The 3.4-litre straight 6 employed double overhead camshaft and was capable of pumping out 160hp. It was installed to the new XK120 sports car, helping it to achieve 126mph top speed. In 1948, that was the fastest production car.The XK120 stunned the world by its high performance out of a low price. Its good look, styled by Lyons himself, also helped attracting sales from all over the world. That fulfilled the post-war British government’s policy to concentrate on export. Some 12,000 units were sold until 1954, then it was upgraded to XK140 and then XK150.Entered the 50’s, Jaguar also started producing saloon with the launch of Mk VII. Despite of powering by the same XK engine, the sales of big saloons were not very successful. Therefore Lyons tried a smaller saloon, then improved to Mk II. The Mk II’s smaller body accompaned with the powerful XK engine and classical styling won the love from car enthusiasts. Production totalled 123,000 cars and became the best selling Jaguar until XJ6. It also won touring car races.The XK150 was succeeded by E-type in 1961. This beautiful sports car was once recorded a top speed of 150mph and was (again) the fastest production sports car then. At least 70,000 E-types left the factory until 1975, including the version with a marvellous V12 designed by Walter Hassen.Lyons was also interested in motor racing, especially is endurance races such as Le Mans. His own team won a total of 5 Le Mans - 2 by C-type (1951, 53), 3 by D-type (1955, 56, 57). After a rest of 2 decades, the partnership with TWR won another 2 Le Mans - XJR-9LM (1988), XJR-12 (1989) - and 2 World Sports Car Championships - XJR-8 (1987) and XJR-14 (1991).In the production side, XJ6 arrived in 1968 and its evolution still serves the company today. V12 was introduced into the saloon in 1972, the car named XJ12. During the 70’s the company’s reputation had been declining until the revival in the mid-90’s. The retirement of Sir William Lyons in ’72 was probably one of the reasons. (He passed away in 1985) Jaguar was losing money and once absorbed by British Leyland. It resumed independence in 1984 but the new cars had already became less attractive than the Lyons’ era. The XJ-S of 1975 was a design disaster. The build quality and production efficiency were not improved.Ford bought 15% stocks from Jaguar in 1989 and made a complete take over next year. A drastic cost reduction scheme cut the workforce by a third. At the same time, there were signs of revival as the partnership with Tom Walkinshaw in motor sport extended to road cars - the joint venture Jaguar Sport created two supercars, XJR-15 and XJ220.In 1993, A new production line opened at Browns Lane and signalled the improvement of build quality. Then came the first new engine for 2 decades - the advanced AJ-V8, although it is produced in Ford’s engine plant. The launch of S-Type in 1998 lifted Jaguar to a position challenging BMW and Mercedes.In 1999, Jaguar was grouped into Ford's Premier Automotive Group (PAG). Under a new expansion strategy, it got a new small Jaguar, X-Type, and entered Formula One racing. But the plan was proved to be too ambitious. The X-Type did not sell well, leading the new Halewood plant running at low capacity. The F1 team also failed to win anything. As a result, Jaguar recorded consecutive losses. In 2004, PAG decided to close one of its 3 plants, kill the F1 team and scale back the expansion plan. Famous models SS100 - the first Jaguar XK120 - a classic E-type - fast and extremely beautiful Mk II - world's first mass production sports saloon XJ220 - a stunning supercar failed to sales ------------------------------------------------------------Rolls-Royce Owned by BMW Introduction For almost a century, Rolls-Royce was seen as the most prestigous luxurious car brand in the world. Although engineering is no match for giant rivals like Mercedes-Benz, Rolls-Royce is renowned for craftsmanship. It emphasised that assembly is taking by experienced human hand with intensive care and using the most expensive materials in traditional British way. For that reason, Rolls-Royce cars are huge, heavyweight and super expensive, targetting at only the richest people in the world.However, under the ownership of Vickers group, Rolls-Royce was under-developed and gradually lagged behind the competition. That was not changed until Vickers sold RR to the German in 1998 - RR went into the hands of BMW while Bentley went to Volkswagen group.Compare to Volkswagen's approach, BMW's plan for Rolls-Royce is more loyal to the core values of RR. It maintained the market positioning, the styling and character of traditional Rolls-Royce. However, the conservative approach resulted in less sales than expected - in 2004, it sold 792 cars, versus the original plan of 1000 cars. In contrast, Volkswagen's radical new model plan helped Bentley to achieve a sales figure 8 times that of the Rolls-Royce. Some changes have to be made.Sales figure 2004: 792 cars2003: 300 cars Location Headquarters and plant : Goodwood Brief History Rolls-Royce was founded by engineer Frederick Henry Royce and car trader Charles Stewart Rolls in 1904. The car which made the company famous, the 40/50, or more commonly known as Silver Ghost, was born 2 years later. Its straight six engine had a strong crankcase and 7 main bearings such that vibration was virtually not exist. The nickname was given because of its quietness and smoothness.As a result, the Silver Ghost was described as the best car in the world. As a principle of Henry Royce, RR always made cars as strong as possible without worrying weight, size and price. In addition to the superb craftsmanship, the company achieved a reputation as making the best luxurious cars in the world. However, approaching the 30’s, RR’s status was challenged by Bentley’s 8-litre, a luxurious car with size, power and everything to trouble Rolls-Royce Phantom II.Nevertheless, the great depression since 1929 put Bentley into bankruptcy and RR seized the chance to bought it. Since then Rolls-Royce dictated the development of Bentley cars and eventually made the latter a re-badged and retuned version of Rolls-Royce.In 1938, Rolls-Royce moved from Derby to the Crewe factory which is still using by Bentley today. There were some more good cars from RR and Bentley, such as RR Phantom III (1936) and Bentley Continental R (1952). However, the firm did not explore much new technology and production method, thus not only lost the reputation for refinement but also the name as the world’s best cars. When Mercedes launched the V12 600SEL in 1990, Rolls-Royce was generally regarded as outdated and not as good as the Mercedes any more.In 1971, under the rescue plan by UK government, the automotive deparment of Rolls-Royce seperated from aircraft engine department. They became Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and Rolls-Royce Plc respectively. Rights to the Rolls-Royce trademark went to the aircraft engine company, but licensed to the car company for use.In 1980, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars was acquired by military tank maker Vickers.BMW wanted to buy the British luxurious car maker since the mid-90s. In 1998, BMW boss Bernd Pischetsrieder made an offer to Vickers, but Volkswagen boss Ferdinand Piech suddenly emerged as a surprise bidder. In fact, Piech was more interested in securing Bentley and the Crewe factory than the Rolls-Royce brand. He made a higher offer to Vickers and finally made a deal. BMW fought back by securing the Rolls-Royce name plate from Rolls-Royce Plc, thanks to the business relationship between BMW's aircraft engine operation and Rolls-Royce Plc. Eventually, Pischetsrieder and Piech had a personal meeting and solved the problem - the Bentley brand and the factory went to VW, while the Rolls-Royce brand went to BMW from 1st Jan 2003.Unsurprisingly, under the 4 years management by Volkswagen, the Rolls-Royce brand was put into low gear and the focus was shifted to Bentley. At the same time, BMW worked on a new Rolls-Royce while was building a new headquarters and factory at Goodwood of England. Finally, the new car Phantom was born on 1st January 2003. Rolls-Royce entered a new era.Famous models Silver Ghost - established reputation as the best car in the world. Phantom III - a rare V12 Rolls ------------------------------------------------------------Bentley Owned by Volkswagen Introduction Since Bentley (and once Rolls-Royce) was sold to Volkswagen in 1998, the latter has big plans for the once-ignored British sports luxurious marque. Volkswagen has done a great job in updating the Arnage, preserving its British craftmenship (thanks to the Crewe factory) while injecting modern technology. However, the real new development is Continental GT, engineered in Germany using many high-tech components from Audi A8 and VW Phaeton. This car landed on a new market segment - more expensive than the mainstream Mercedes coupe but cheaper than the previous Bentley and Rolls-Royce. It led a true revival of the Bentley brand - which has been ignored in the days under Rolls-Royce. In 2004, Continental GT drove the company a 500% growth in sales ! now the Crewe factory is working in full steam to meet customer demand.Sales figure 2004 sales: 6576 cars (2004 production: 7686 cars - 6896 Continental GT, 790 Arnage)2003 sales: 1017 cars2002 sales: 1210 cars2001 sales: 1781 cars2000 sales: 1364 cars Location Headquarters and plant : Crewe, Cheshire Brief History Bentley was founded by Walter Owen Bentley (known as W.O. Bentley) in 1919, primarily making bullet-proof sports cars. Like Henry Royce, W.O. Bentley cared about reliability instead of weight and size. Therefore his sports cars were described by some as "the fastest trucks on earth". The model 3-litre won Le Mans in 1924. Then followed by 4.5-litre (1927 and 28) and the 6.5-litre Speed Six (1929 and 30). The racing program made its cars famous. Approaching the 30’s, Bentley even challenged Rolls-Royce’s status by producing the Bentley 8-litre, a luxurious car with size, power and everything to trouble Rolls-Royce Phantom II.Nevertheless, the great depression since 1929 put Bentley into bankruptcy. A mystery group called British Equitable Trust bid the company in 1931. Several days later, W.O. Bentley knew that it was actually Rolls-Royce !Since then Rolls-Royce dictated the development of Bentley cars and eventually made the latter a re-badged and retuned version of Rolls-Royce. W.O. Bentley was unhappy, of course, so that he left the company he founded and joined Lagonda. His creation included the famous Lagonda V12 (a rival to RR) and the straight six for Aston Martin DB2.In 1938, Rolls-Royce / Bentley moved from Derby to the Crewe factory which is still using today. There were some more good cars from Bentley, such as Continental R (1952). However, the firm did not explore much new technology and production method, thus not only lost the reputation for refinement but also the name as the world’s best cars.In 1971, under the rescue plan by UK government, the automotive deparment of Rolls-Royce seperated from aircraft engine department. They became Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and Rolls-Royce Plc respectively. Rights to the Rolls-Royce trademark went to the aircraft engine company, but licensed to the car company for use.In 1980, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars was acquired by military tank maker Vickers. BMW wanted to buy the British luxurious car maker since the mid-90s. In 1998, BMW boss Bernd Pischetsrieder made an offer to Vickers, but Volkswagen boss Ferdinand Piech suddenly emerged as a surprise bidder. In fact, Piech was more interested in securing Bentley and the Crewe factory than the Rolls-Royce brand. He made a higher offer to Vickers and finally made a deal. BMW fought back by securing the Rolls-Royce name plate from Rolls-Royce Plc, thanks to the business relationship between BMW's aircraft engine operation and Rolls-Royce Plc. Eventually, Pischetsrieder and Piech had a personal meeting and solved the problem - the Bentley brand and the factory went to VW, while the Rolls-Royce brand went to BMW from 1st Jan 2003. BMW would build another factory in England for producing future Rolls-Royce cars.Volkswagen invested some £500 million to Crewe and the development of new models Continental GT and Continental Flying Spur. In 2004, the investment is finally paid off by strong sales and the first profit. Famous models Bentley 3-litre series / Speed Six / Blower - 5 times Le Mans hero Bentley Continental R (1952) - the most beautiful Bentley yet ------------------------------------------------------------Lotus Owned by Proton (Malaysia) Subsidiary Lotus Engineering - provide engineering consultation Introduction Lotus is the technology leader among all British sports car specialists. While Aston, Bentley and Morgan emphasis tradition, TVR and Marcos pursue simplicity, Caterham and Westfield survive by offering kit cars and weekend racing experience, Lotus is the only one dare to compete with Ferrari and Porsche as a modern sports car maker. Thanks to Lotus Engineering, the car division has the best facilities for research and development.Lotus Engineering provides consultation services to other car makers, such as its owner Proton and ex-owner GM. In particular, GM relies heavily on it - the development of Ecotec engines and the handling tuning of Astra are conducted by Lotus instead of GM’s engineers. In the past decade, Lotus Engineering has grown a lot and became the largest contributor to the group’s profit.Lotus Cars is relatively weak. The recent revival is solely due to the success of Elise, which attracted around 2,000 sales annually since its introduction in 1996. Before that, Lotus produced only 300-400 cars a year. Elise is so successful because it is back to the old Lotus principle - enhance performance through lightness. Especially is the aluminium chassis technology, which won GM's contract to develop and produce the Opel Speedster.However, Lotus still has a long way to go in order to secure its prosperity. It must find money to develop a second model to broaden its customer base. We are still waiting for the new Esprit.Sales figure Produce around 3,000 Elise and Opel Speedster / Vauxhall VX220 a year.Location All facilities : Hethel, Norfork. (including Lotus Engineering) Brief History Colin Chapman (1928 - 1981), started his business as a racing car tuner. When he was still studying engineering in university, he bought an old Austin 7 and tuned it to race. Perhaps he was a man born to win, his first attempt rewarded by winning a few small races. In 1951, while he had graduated, his third car, Mk 3, stormed the 750cc formula class. Unlike other cars in this class, it used spaceframe tubes in construction so that rigidity and lightness out-performed others. Many other teams queued to buy this car and the Lotus Engineering Company was established in 1952. Since then Chapman began his full time automotive engineering career. Obviously, Chapman is a pure racing car engineer heart and bone. To fund his ambitious racing project, he started building road cars. In 1957, the Mk 6 race car was transformed to the first-ever Lotus road car - Mk 7. The car is renowned for lightness and good handling. It is still building by Caterham today under license. At the same year he unveiled the Elite which employed a revolutionary composite monocoque body. The Elan of 1962 was the peak of Lotus. Having learned from the lesson of Elite, Chapman designed a cheaper steel backbone chassis for the new roadster. Power came from Ford’s twin cam engine. The pretty roadster ran as fast as it sold. A total production of 12,000 cars set the company’s all-time record. After Elan is the first mid-engined sports car, Europa, which also sold well. Since the 60s, Lotus’s business expanded to engineering consultation to other car makers, such as developing the chassis for DeTomaso Mangusta and DeLorean, the tuning of Lotus (Ford) Cortina, Lotus Sunbeam, Lotus (Opel) Omega and developed the engine for Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. The engineering business became more and more important as the car production slumped from the 70s to the early 90s. As a result, Lotus Engineering departed from the road car division, just like Team Lotus did in the 50’s. The decline of car sales was due to the neglect to the road car division. Chapman concentrated on his F1 challenge and left the road cars to be handled by others. The Esprit of 1976 was designed to be a mid-engined supercar challenging Ferrari and Porsche, but the self-developed four cylinder 907 engine was not considered to worth the price, even in turbocharged form. The production quality and the completeness of design were never the company’s strength, so attacking the supercar market was simply a wrong decision. In addition to the oil crisis, new supercars without established brand image suffered the most. In 1981, Colin Chapman died suddenly due to heart attack. Lotus got into financial trouble and sold 25% stocks to Toyota in 1984. Since then the Japanese giant learned the multi-valve engine technology and put it into mass production. 4 years later, Toyota left and Lotus was completely took over by GM. GM spent some 40 million dollars to the development of the new Elan Mk II, hoping it to pump the volume to 3,000 cars annually. However, the little roadster went to the wrong direction - a front-wheel-drive configuration, a small capacity turbo engine and an overweight body. All of these conflict with Chapman’s philosophy. Most important is that the little Lotus was very expensive compare with the Japanese competitors, most notably is Mazda MX-5. The car sold poorly, thus GM pulled out in 1993 and sold Lotus to Italian tycoon Romano Artioli who had already revived Bugatti. The white-hair man did little to help Lotus. He did approved the Elise project and donated this name after his grand daughter. However, everybody would have approved this low cost project under such financial condition. The Elise was proved to be a great success, thanks to its aluminium chassis and conformation to Chapman’s principle - enhance performance through lightness. However, Artioli got into financial trouble as his Bugatti bankrupted. He sold majority shares to Malaysian car maker Proton in 1996.Proton used Lotus Engineering to help developing its own cars. It did not invest too much money into Lotus Cars, therefore the latter continued to struggle by its own. In early 2000s, Lotus worked with GME to produce Opel Speedster / Vauxhall VX220, which was a derivative from Elise, in order to ultilize the excessive production capacity at its Hethel plant.The long-serving Esprit finally retired in 2004, leaving only Elise in the price list. Lotus has been planning for its successor - and talked a lot - since the late 90s but never materialized. This reflects how difficult the business is.Famous models Mk 7 - rawest sports car still survive after 40 years Elite - collector's car Elan Mk I - the best British roadster Elise - the Saviour to Lotus ------------------------------------------------------------McLaren Introduction McLaren Cars was established in the early 90s by the famous Formula One racing team to produce the F1 road car. The Gordan Murray-designed supercar was extremely successful in terms of reputation but high price and lack of an efficient production method (due to the sophisticated design) resulted in just 100 cars produced in 3 years. In 1996, after the 100th car rolled out, the company was effectively closed down. In mid-1999, Mercedes-Benz asked its motor racing partner to develop and build its SLR concept car using the carbon fiber experience. As a result, £300 million was injected into the McLaren group, including £130 million to be spent on the SLR project. In return DaimlerChrysler took 40% shares of McLaren group. The McLaren Cars is therefore revived. The SLR was born in 2003.Sales figure Target: 500 SLRs per year Location Woking Famous models F1 - the fastest car ever made SLR - the fatest front-engined GT in the world ------------------------------------------------------------Proton (Malaysia)Owned by Khazanah Nasional berhad (Malaysia) - 31.63 % Petronas (Malaysian oil company) - 11.57% Subsidiary Lotus MV Agusta (Italian motorcycle maker) - 57.75%Introduction Proton (Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Berhad) was founded in 1983 under the direction of Malaysia Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. With the help of minority share holder Mitsubishi, it started producing Mitsubishi's cars in 1985. The company continued relying on Mitsubishi (plus some Citroen) technologies until 1996, when it acquired Lotus. A specialized facility was setup at Norfolk (Lotus' site) to design and engineer cars for Proton. In 2001, the first so-called "self-developed car" (actually Lotus developed), Waja, was born. In 2004, Gen.2 also introduced a Lotus-designed, locally-made Campro engine.Proton used to dominate the Malaysian market, accounting for more than 60% cars. However, this is due to the government's protection instead of its competitiveness. In the Mahathir-era, Malaysia government took heavy tariffs for imported cars. After the ex-Prime Minister stepped down, the tariffs is going to fall as Malaysia signed free trade agreement with other ASEAN countries. Without national protection, the future of Proton is really in threat. While Lotus injected attractive styling and world-class engineering, the Malaysian plant and local suppliers are still lack of quality conscious. Therefore in late 2004 Proton signed an agreement with Volkswagen to produce VW cars in its plant. Through the joint-venture, VW will help trainning Proton's workers and improve its quality standard. This is very crucial to its long-term survival on its own feet.Sales figure 2004 domestic sales: 155,420 cars. Market share dropped to 44%.2004 export: 16,000 cars.Location New plant: Proton City, Tanjung Malim, near Kular Lumpar.Old plant: Shah Alam.An R&D project center at Lotus which employs 150 people. Famous models Nil ------------------------------------------------------------Hyundai Subsidiary Kia Owned by DaimlerChrysler - 10% Mitsubishi - 4.1% Introduction Hyundai and its subsidiary Kia is currently the 7th largest car group in the world, just after GM, Ford, Toyota, Renault-Nissan, Volkswagen and DaimlerChrysler. It is also the fastest rising one and a fearsome rival to Western car makers. Benefited by low labour cost in Korea and the government's policy to favour industry, Hyundai and Kia can price their cars much cheaper than Western and Japanese cars. At the same time, the company raised its engineering and quality standard quickly in recent years, getting closer and closer to world standard. Sales figure 2004 sales:Group: 3.36 million carsHyundai: 2.1 million cars (2003: 1.65 million)Kia: 1.3 million carsLocation Hyundai main plant : UlsanKia plants : Asan, Sohari6 R&D centers in Korea, 1 in Detroit, 1 in Frankfurt and 1 in Japan.Overseas design studio in LA. Brief History HyundaiHyundai Motor was established in 1967 by the Hyundai group. However, for a long period it was just producing cars based on the design supplied by Ford UK. The first self-developed model was the ’74 Pony, but under the guidance of Mitsubishi. Engines also came from the Japanese design, while the styling was penned by Italdesign. The car earned Hyundai the name as the biggest Korean car maker which is still unchallenged today. The second generation Pony of 1982 marked another milestone : the first large scale export. Like the Japanese, Korean’s industry was (and still is) very export-oriented. The Pony small car, benefited by the wage advantage of Korea labours, stormed the Canadian small car market in 1983. The world started to realise the rise of another Eastern car making nation. The first self-designed engine appeared in 1991, which signalled the "real" autonomy of R&D. Sales continued to grow in the whole 90s as model range expanded and quality improved. In 1998, Asian finanical crisis hit South Korea hard, but Hyundai took this opportunity to acquire the bankrupted Kia, further strengthening itself.Hyundai formed strategic alliance with DaimlerChrysler and Mitsubishi in 2000 to share development cost of small cars and 4-cylinder engines. But the alliance crumpled after DaimlerChrysler pulled out in 2004.KiaKia started producing cars in 1974 under Peugeot and Fiat’s licenses. In 1986. it partnered with Ford, produced the Festiva (Pride) for Ford. The 1992 Sephia and next year’s Sportage SUV reflected the independence of the company which started exporting cars under its own name. It became the third largest Korean car maker but over-expansion was hit by the Asian economy crisis in 1998. Kia bankrupted and was acquired by Hyundai in the same year. Famous models Nil ------------------------------------------------------------Ssangyong Subsidiary SAIC (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp.) - 48.9%Introduction Ssangyong is Korea’s off-roaders specialist. Thanks to the technology transferred from Mercedes-Benz, it developed some good off-roaders from zero within a few years. Also don’t forget the Chairman luxurious sedan, Korea’s first and still the best luxurious car.Running at a volume slightly more than 100,000 cars a year, Ssangyong knows it is too small to survive independently in the competitive market. Therefore it was sold to Daewoo in 1998 and then China's SAIC in 2004.Sales figure 2004 sales: 136,000 unitsLocation Headquarters and main plant: PyungtaekBrief History The history of Ssangyong started in 1954 when Hadongwahn Motor was founded. It was later renamed to Dong-A Motor. The company became a manufacturer of commercial trucks, fire engines and other special purpose vehicles during the 70s.In the early 80s, Dong-A acquired SUV maker Keowha, which made 4WD offroaders licensed from Jeep. The merged company was renamed to Ssangyong in 1986 and started concentrating on SUVs.The turning point was in 1991, when it signed an agreement with Mercedes for transferring its engine technology and helped it developing light commercial vehicles. This is why you can see many Ssangyong cars and SUVs are equipped with Mercedes straight-sixes. The Musso of 1993 and Korando of 1996 successfully opened the door of global SUV market for Ssangyong. Later, Mercedes even helped Ssangyong developed its first passenger car - the Chairman luxurious sedan.To produce the Mercedes engines, Ssangyong built its second plant in Changwon. The aggressive expansion led to its bankruptcy during the Asian financial crisis in 1998. The company was bought by Daewoo and its SUVs and Chairman were rebadged as Daewoo. The name Ssangyong disappeared for a while until 2000, when Daewoo itself went into receivership. Ssangyong, with its stronger basis in SUV business and the better prospect of global SUV market, received support from its creditors and spun off from Daewoo.In 2004, Chinese car maker SAIC acquired controlling stakes of Ssangyong and became its new owner.Famous models Nil</blockquote>

Verification

The Marketplace Latest

Honda Integra DC2 Type R Original Blue Tag
- Started by aycy
- Cars for sale
original rare Rays Volk Racing CE28 17x8jj offset...
- Started by david tao
- Chassis and Wheels
Evasive EVS Tuning Carbon Body Kit Honda Civic Type...
- Started by aycy
- Exterior and Body
Mugen MS-C Full Bucket Seat Civic Type R FL5 FK8
- Started by aycy
- Engine and Performance
Boost Logic Boostlogic Oil Cooler Kit R35 GTR GTR35
- Started by aycy
- Engine and Performance
Linney IHI 800WHP Turbo Kit R35 GTR35 GTR
- Started by aycy
- Engine and Performance
Varis R35 GTR GTR35 Front Bumper
- Started by aycy
- Exterior and Body
HKS Spec R Titanium Exhaust with Y pipe R35 GTR GTR35
- Started by aycy
- Engine and Performance
2016 BMW 120i LCI M Sport F20 1.6 Auto
- Started by aycy
- Cars for sale
GR Yaris H&R Front Rear Anti Roll Bar
- Started by aycy
- Chassis and Wheels

Posts refresh every 5 minutes

Nissan 日産 Qashqai : Success Leads to Third Shift

With European sales in exceed of 130,000 models since the Qashqai’s debut in March 2007 and a customer order bank of 60,000 units, Nissan had...

i wan to DIY cd player ....

i wan to FIX cd player myself ....

I would like to fix the cd player myself ...

i would like to get info and advice from sifu here ...
wat tools i need to ?
the wiring ?
and i duno how to remove the speaker...

hi..may i know who is d PREZ of dis club??

appreciate if cld include ctc number and/or email address...

thnks