Chery Automobile has started the construction of a foundry plant for engine blocks with an investment of more than CNY2bn.
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The Xinhua news agency reported that the foundry plant will also make crankshafts, exhausts and other parts.
The project’s first phase will be completed at the end of this year with an annual production capacity of 800,000 casts, and the whole plant is scheduled to be completed in 2010 with six production lines to make 2.4m pieces annually.
The report said that engine blocks have become a bottleneck for the development of Chery. The company, based in Wuhu, plans to raise its annual output to one million vehicles by 2010.
Chery vehicle sales are forecast to reach 480,000 units this year and the company says it is the country’s fourth largest car firm.
Its exports, which more than doubled to 119,800 units in 2007, are planned to rise to 180,000 this year.
