China's Guangzhou Automobile Group Company (GAC) is spending US$4.45m on an R&D facility in Michigan ahead of its planned sales launch in the US in 2019.
The facility, under construction on the site of GAC's current US headquarters in the Detroit suburb of Farmington Hills, will initially employ just about 60 people.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The state-owned automaker received a $500,000 grant from the Michigan Strategic Fund in June to help finance the development.
GAC previouslly built an R&D centre in the US, in Silicon Valley, California, last year, where it is working on future products such as intelligent and connected cars.
Earlier this year the automaker announced plans to enter the US market in 2019 with its GS8 mid-size SUV currently on sale in China.
This likely will soon be followed by the launch of the new Qiyun smart SUV, an upgraded version of GAC's best-selling GS4 launched last month.
GAC also said it was looking at sites for a planned new North American headquarters.
