SsangYong Motor Company, part
of the Mahindra Group, has announced that as part of its effort to grow in
China, the company signed a letter of intent (LOI) with the Shaanxi Automobile
Group for a joint venture that will establish a local production plant for CBU
vehicles.
The signing ceremony, which was held in Xi’an
in Shaanxi Province, China on October 11, was attended by Ssangyong Motor CEO
Choi Johng-sik, Communist Party Secretary of Shaanxi Province Lou Qinjian,
Governor of Shaanxi Hu Heping, Vice Governor of Shaanxi Jiang Feng, Communist
Party Secretary of Xi’an Wei Minzhou, Xi’an Mayor Shangguan Jiqing and
President of Shaanxi Automobile Group Yuan Hongming and other officials and
executives from Korea and China, who witnessed the signing of a Strategic Joint
Venture Framework Agreement and an LOI.
The joint venture, which will
become Ssangyong’s first overseas production base in a 50/50 partnership with
the Shaanxi Automobile Group will construct production facilities for CBU
vehicles and an engine plant on a site with an area of 1.23 million square
metre in the Xi’an Economic and Technological Development Zone in Xi’an. The
first phase of construction will establish a plant with an annual capacity of
150,000 units per year by the end of 2019 and the second phase will involve an
expansion of the facilities to 300,000-units annually.
Furthermore, Ssangyong will
establish an automotive cluster with its major suppliers that will also enter
the market, to ensure product competitiveness, and start the production of
Ssangyong’s current models and models under development, in the second half of
2019.
Ssangyong has been reviewing
the central and western parts of China for the establishment of its first
overseas production facility taking into consideration the Chinese government’s
policies and the growth potential of the Chinese automotive market.
Source: Mahindra & Mahindra