Dongfeng locates MPV R&D center in Guangzhou
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-03-27 10:57

Dongfeng Motor Co Ltd, a joint venture between Dongfeng Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co Ltd of Japan, has decided to build a research and development center for multi-purpose vehicles (MPV) in Huadu of Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province.

The new MPV research and development center will be constructed at a cost of 330 million yuan (US$39.76 million). It will be completed and start operation in late 2005, according to Tong Dongcheng, vice-president of the Sino-Japanese joint venture.

"With Nissan's global research and development technologies and common platform, the new MPV center, which will be the fifth global R&D center of Nissan, will help advance the speed of developing China's locally produced car products at a lower cost while ensuring Nissan's international standards," said Tong.

The new MPV center will have a floor space of 200,000 square meters. It will cooperate closely with the research and development center of the Nissan headquarters in developing the bodywork of Nissan MPVs and in improving the capability of MPV matching and assembling.

Dongfeng Motor Co Ltd was built with Nissan Motor Co Ltd pumping in US$1.01 billion, while Dongfeng Motor Corporation, one of China's leading auto makers, staked about 80 percent of its assets. The joint venture began operation on July 1.

Dongfeng Motor Co Ltd, considered one of the largest joint ventures in the country's automotive industry, has been registered in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province, with a combined investment of over US$2 billion.

The joint venture, with 70,000 employees, produces automobiles ranging from cars, trucks and minivans to buses at three separate bases in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, and Xiangfan and Shiyan cities, both in Hubei Province.

According to Katsumi Nakamura, president of the joint venture, the joint venture will work out six new types of automobiles for the Chinese market during the 2004-2007 period.