Foton, Daimler to build trucks outside China
Daimler AG and Beiqi Foton Motor Co. will form joint ventures to build assembly plants and produce commercial trucks in several emerging markets outside China.
Beiqi Foton is the commercial vehicle subsidiary of Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co.
"Beiqi Foton plans to invest to build production facilities in Russia, Brazil, India, Mexico and Southeast Asia," Xu Heyi, BAIC's president, said last week at an industry forum in Chengdu.
In September, the Chinese government approved Foton's request to build a joint-venture plant in China with Daimler.
The 6.4 billion yuan ($1 billion) partnership will produce up to 100,000 medium and heavy-duty trucks annually for Foton's Auman brand.
These vehicles, which will meet Euro V emission standards, will be sold inside and outside China.
In April, Foton disclosed a plan to build a wholly-owned plant in India that will build up to 100,000 trucks a year starting in 2013.
Foton, a major Chinese light commercial vehicle producer, sold 497,394 trucks and buses in the first nine months of this year, down 4.5 percent year-on-year, according to a company statement filed with the Shanghai stock exchange.
