China's largest automaker SAIC Motor said its vehicle sales in February rose 45% from a year earlier to 248,000 vehicles, compared with 307,384 in January when sales were up 90%, media reported.

Automotive sales were slightly down in February 2010 due to the long holidays and the slightly shorter month. The BYD F3 has come in top of the ranks yet again. The F3 does seem to have pulled quite a lead over the nearest competition, but this is probably due to BYD's relative fame for making good quality cheap cars. BYD is aiming to produce 800,000 cars this year and does have lofty plans to become the world's biggest automaker by 2025. Both VW and GM are fighting it out in China for dominance, VW seems intent on running different generations of cars side by side whilst GM is relying on its clever branding strategy that pushes the Chevrolet brand towards younger buyers and the Buick brand towards more mature buyers.

During this year's parliament session, several members who are senior automotive executives submitted motions for the State Council to consider adopting more favorable policies in support for manufacturing and use of micro and small vehicles.

LOS ANGELES - China's independent carmaker BYD is looking to open its North American headquarters and an auto assembly plant in Los Angeles County,

BEIJING - Despite the short month and the Chinese New Year holiday, China's auto sales in February, thanks in part to strong performance of independent brands and continued government incentives, still grew 46.25 percent year-on-year to more than 1.21 million units, according to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) on March 9.

In a recent interview with auto.sohu.com, Yin Tongyue, chairman and CEO of Chery Automobile Co., China's leading homegrown carmaker, talks about brand building and his attitude towards oversea acquisition. Following are excerpts of the interview. - Editor

Profitable business, but not now

The market had waited with bated breath for years before the anticipated pride of Chinese carmaker BYD finally appeared on a Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) list of certified new autos in early January.

HARBIN, Heilongjiang - Dongan Automotive Engine Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (DAE) in Harbin held an off-line ceremony of its first batch of automatic transmissions on February 4.

China is now facing enormous pressure to get the ball rolling on energy-saving and emission reduction initiatives. This comes along with soaring fuel prices in the international market. Thankfully, the young electric vehicle (EV) industry is expected to experience rapid development in 2010, a year many are referring to as the first year of the EV era in China.

Miao Wei, China's vice minister of Industry and Information Technology, spoke about issues of China's auto industry on January 9 at the 11