One of Shenma¡¯s major investors is China Bird Group. The mobile phone company poured 250 million yuan into the coach manufacturing plant to to produce 2,500 coaches annually -- 1,500 public transportation buses and 1,000 medium-sized buses. Auto sales are expected to top 1.5 billion yuan each year.

According to Shenma Auto, the coach maker will have a production capacity of 5,000 coaches after it makes its own chassis and complete vehicles. Shenma Auto also aims to develop electricity-powered city buses and has joined forces with Tianjin enterprises in researching the field.

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The full text is available in the April Issue of AutoChina.