A small but potentially importand player in the Chinese comercial vehicle marekt is expanding.
Jiangling Motors Corp (JMC) broke ground over the weekend for a new $300 million assembly plant in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, 775 km southwest of Shanghai.
The plant will have the capacity to produce up to 300,000 vehicles per year when it opens in 2012.
Jinagling will make both the Ford Transit and Maverick models (Yihu in China, Escape in U.S.), and a JMC- branded car, the Yusheng.
JMC is 30% owned by Ford.
The company is also said to be in discussions with Subaru to produce the Forrester SUV model in China.
JMC is a bit player in the Chinese market, which is running at more than 17 million units annually making it the world’s largest auto market by far. JMC currently has a yearly production capacity of just 160,000 vehicles. Last year JMC sold 88,000 vehicles.
(See also Ford Uses Same Pedal Supplier Involved in the Toyota Unintended Acceleration Stop Sale)