As expected, DR Motor company, the subsidiary of Italian DR Automobiles Groupe, will become the owner of Fiat’s Sicilian Termini Imerse factory, which was closed in December last year. In an interview for Italian newspaper La Repubblica", Di Risio, founder and CEO of holding company, confirmed plans to start production of Chinese Chery models. DR Motor is still waiting for the green light from government agency Invitalia, which has to approve the new investment. If that happens, the company will get bank loans for the project. The first goal is to start assemble small SUV based on Chery Tiggo by the end of 2012.

MG Motor has announced it will enter the 2012 BTCC Series with a ‘dream team’ of cars, drivers, constructors and sponsors. Two MG6 GT cars will run in the all-new MG KX Momentum Racing team piloted by double BTCC champion Jason Plato and BTCC rising star Andy Neate. The cars will be prepared by Triple Eight Race Engineering, one of the most successful constructors in touring car racing. And completing the ‘dream team’ are principal sponsors Tesco Fuels with their Momentum 99 brand and KX energy drink completing an all-British line-up.

Recently Great Wall Motors built Voleex C30 and Voleex C20R have been approved by EU with WVTA. Following Florid, Coolbear, Haval, and Wingle, the complete series of Voleex saloon cars of Great Wall Motors have got this certification. This certification lasted for 1 year, and the certification organization of VCA in UK is responsible for the certification process which is considerably complicated and strict. Totally 48 testing items are involved in EU Certification, of which 13 are relating to active safety, 13 for passive safety, 8 for environmental protection. Fairly high standards have been set for the vehicles in regard to emission level, safety performance and environmental protection.

The Chinese producer has ambitious plans for the European markets. After released of information about start of sales in UK, came the announcement of expansion in Italy. The sales of Asian brand will begin this year. Just as in Britain, initially will be offer only a four-door sedan with code EC7. The car will compete mainly with Skoda Octaivia. According to preliminary information, the basic version of the vehicle equipped with 1.5l 1006 hp petrol engine, ESP and airbags package should cost about EUR 12,000.

Great Wall Motor Co., China's largest SUV maker, expects its joint venture assembly plant in Bulgaria to start producing vehicles in February - according to autonewschina.com. The factory, in the northern Bulgarian town of Lovech, is a joint venture between Great Wall and Bulgaria's Litex Motors Co. Chinese tycoon plans to set up a technology center in Europe to develop vehicles that comply with the European safety standards - autonewschina.com said.

Israel Corporation and partner Chinese car-maker Chery Automobile Co. launched last week a new brand. The 50-50 joint venture Qoros Automotive Co., introduced last Monday at Shanghai, intends to be one of the first Chinese car makers to meet stringent 2013 Euro auto safety standards, the companies said – according to port2port.com.

Geely is another Chinese brand which starts selling cars in Europe next year. The new owner of Volvo wants to crate a network of 40 dealership in UK by the end of 2012 - according to Automotive Management. Matthew Cheyne, Geely Auto UK market development director, told AM: “We’re looking for businesses that want to do things differently and as we look at potential partners we’ll want them to help shape how the franchise will be run before we launch.” - AM said.

After sixteen years Bulgaria is back on the car manufacturing map of Europe. The first Great Wall Motor Voleex C10 rolled off the assembly line in Lovech. Litex Motors, which is a local partner of Chinese tycoon, has began testing a new assembly line and starts first attempts synchronization of montage. Litex ensures that enters one of the most modern cars’ production management system, which will lead to high quality of products produced in this factory.

Italy's northern city of Turin, a global center for automobile creation and design, has opened its arms to embrace yet another vistor–Beijing Automotive, also known as Beiqi or BAIC. Earlier this week, Group Chairman Xu Heyi met with President of the Torino Chamber of Commerce Alessandro Barberis, the Beijing Evening News reported. The two parties unveiled a plaque for the Beijing Automotive Research Institute's, BAIC's in-house engineering school, new brancn in Turin.

Polish-based Automotive Europe Corporation has begun marketing Chinese-built BYD Auto model range in Ukrainie. The new distributor makes nor secret of its ambition to become the No. 1 in the sales of Chinese-models on this market. Previously BYD was represented by a local company Atlant-M, but its operation became heavily limited during the recent crisis. Currently, there are some 1,000 BYD-badged cars on Ukrainian roads (mainly the F3) for which the Polish-based importer has also prepared an attractive servicing package.