JAC Motors to locate Brazilian plant in Bahia, newspaper reports
Jianghuai Automobile Co. has chosen the state of Bahia as the location for its new Brazil assembly plant, Folha de S.Paulo reported, citing Sergio Habib, head of the Chinese manufacturer's Brazilian operations.
The factory, which will produce up to 100,000 cars a year, will cost about 900 million reais (3.3 billion yuan), according to the newspaper.
The automaker first announced plans to build a Brazilian plant last May. At the time, JAC said the plant would open in 2014.
Chinese automakers are targeting Brazil, the world's fifth largest car market, as a promising market for their low-priced products.
In March, JAC began exporting vehicles to Brazil. It sells the J5 and J6 compact cars there, but the Brazilian government recently raised tariffs on imported cars.
Now, Chinese automakers are building assembly plants in Brazil. Next year, Chery will open a 2.6 billion yuan assembly plant which will produce at least 150,000 cars a year. Chonqing Lifan Auto Co. also has announced plans to build a plant in Brazil.
JAC, which is headquartered in the eastern China city of Hefei, sold 200,000 passenger cars and 242,000 commercial vehicles last year.
