Chery begins construction of its third engine plant
Chery Automobile Co. has launched construction of its third engine plant, in the city of Wuhu in east China's Anhui province, to keep pace with its rapidly expanding vehicle production.
The new engine plant will start production in 2011 with an initial annual capacity of 300,000 units. By 2014, its 30 production lines will build up to 1 million units a year. Total investment will exceed 4 billion yuan ($586 million).
The new plant will build Chery's own brand of ACTECO engines, which Chery developed with the support of Austrian company AVL. Engine displacements will range from 0.5 to 3.0 liters, and power will range from 20kW to 150kW.
Chery's assembly plant in Wuhu can produce up to 900,000 cars and small commercial vehicles a year, making it the largest Chinese producer of domestic-brand vehicles.
The company also is building assembly plants in Dalian, Kifeng and Erdos. These three assembly plants have a combined production capacity of 780,000 vehicles.
But Chery's existing two engine plants have only a combined production capacity of 650,000 units per year – hence the need for a new engine plant.
