Volvo Car Group’s plans for two manufacturing plants in Daqing and Zhangjiakou have been approved by the relevant authorities in Beijing, the Gothenburg-based company reports.
The announcement, made earlier on 23 August, means that VCC’s full Chinese industrial footprint, including Chengdu, has now been approved.
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An assembly plant in Daqing is still under construction but Volvo insists that it will produce its first pre-series cars in late 2013. These will be just for training purposes, with the facility “forecast to be fully operational in 2014”, according to a company statement.
An engine plant which has been erected in Zhangjiakou will become operational during the northern hemisphere autumn of this year. It will deliver engines to Volvo Cars’ manufacturing plant in Chengdu, where serial production will start in the fourth quarter of 2013. Zhangjiakou will also supply the assembly plant in Daqing. Chengdu is where the unique to China Volvo S60L sedan is being manufactured.
The plants in Daqing and Zhangjiakou are part of two joint venture companies. VCC has what it terms an ‘initial’ 30 percent share holding. The remaining part will be held by companies within Geely Holding Group.
The S60L factory in Chengdu is operated under an extension of an existing production licence. This is held by a Geely Holding company. The manufacturing licence for Chengdu was granted in June.
VCC stresses that all of the manufacturing operations in China will be operated in full accordance with Volvo Cars’ manufacturing standards and procedures, equal to those of the company’s European plants.
Author: Glenn Brooks
