Dongfeng Motor, a joint venture between Nissan Motor and Dongfeng Automotive Investment, has completed a technical centre to conduct research and development on passenger cars in Guangzhou, southern China, the Japanese automaker said on Monday.
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Kyodo News reported that Dongfeng Nissan Technical Centre, which has been built at a cost of 330m yuan, or US$41.1m, will replace an existing similar centre, and start out with about 320 workers, working in close cooperation with Nissan’s technical centre in Japan and elsewhere.
The new centre will also develop parts and work on cost reduction in partnership with local vendors, the carmaker added.
Kyodo News said Dongfeng Motor, which was established in 2003, is now in the second stage of a three-stage plan, producing cars in China based on those developed in Japan.
In the first stage, the company sold in China cars that were built in Japan. It will seek to sell in China cars made locally through joint development work with the Japanese automaker in the third stage.
Dongfeng’s plans call for raising passenger car sales to 200,000 units in 2006, up from 157,500 last year, and then to 300,000 next year.
The completion of the new technical lab comes on the heels of the company’s recent opening of an engine plant and increased investment in car production facilities, Kyodo News noted.
