Tokyo (July 29, 2009) - Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. (DFL), Nissan's local partner in China, today announced the expansion of the Huadu passenger vehicle plant in Guangzhou City, China, with acquisition of the land for building an additional production line.
The new production line will start operations in 2012 and ultimately will increase annual capacity to 600,000 units from 360,000 units. Through a phased approach, the total investment in this expansion will reach RMB 5 billion (USD $730 million).
"The new production line will help us meet the three objectives of our mid-term business plan," said Kimiyasu Nakamura, president of DFL. "With this expansion, we will reach a sufficient capacity to achieve our sales target by 2012 with the aim to produce first-class, quality products at the appropriate delivery timing and to accelerate clean production by reducing CO2, SO2 and COD (chemical oxygen demand), hallmarks of a trusted company."
Sales of Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Co. (Dongfeng Nissan), DFL's affiliated company overseeing the passenger vehicle business operation, totaled a record 225,073 vehicles for the first half of 2009, an increase of 41.3 percent versus the prior year period.
Dongfeng Nissan's current annual production capacity is 460,000 units at the Huadu and the Xiangfan plant. Once the expansion is completed, total production capacity of Dongfeng Nissan will be 700,000 units.
About DFL
Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. was established in 2003 as a result of a comprehensive, strategic partnership between Dongfeng Group and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. DFL is the first joint venture in China to have a full line-up of passenger vehicles, LCVs and H&MCVs, and has grown faster than the total market in China. Registered capital of the company is RMB 16.7 billion (USD 2.4 billion), the largest automotive joint venture investment in China, with Dongfeng and Nissan each holding a 50 percent stake.
Note: Amounts in dollars are translated for the convenience of the reader at the foreign exchange rate of RMB 1 per USD 0.146.
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