"The plan has yet to be approved by the government," said Zheng Xiaoli, public relations office of Fiat (China) Business Co., in a telephone interview with Automotive News China.

 

Zheng declined to give further details about the joint venture plan. 

 

Nonetheless, some information on the planned plant has been disclosed in an environmental impact assessment application made by Guangzhou auto and posted on the web site of China's Ministry of Environmental Protection last week.

 

According to the application, Guangzhou Auto has proposed a plant capable of building 140,000 sedans and 220,000 engines a year in the Fanyu district of the South China city of Guangzhou. 

 

With a total investment of 4.3 billion yuan ($630.5 billion), the plant's first product will be the Fiat Linear compact car.

 

Details on when the plant will start operation have not been disclosed. 

 

With no production facility in China, Fiat sells its Bravo and Punto hatchbacks and Linear compact car in China through imports.