The company's joint venture, Hefei AAM Automotive Driveline & Chassis System Co., will acquire all of the light commercial axle business of American Axle's Chinese partner, Hefei Automobile Axle Co.

Hefei Automobile, in turn, is a subsidiary of the JAC Group.

The partnership is located in Hefei, the capital of Anhui province.
The expanded joint venture will launch operations this month.

American Axle is headquartered in Detroit. With global sales last year of $2.3 billion (14.6 billion yuan), the company ranked 67th on Automotive News' list of the 100 top global suppliers.

In China, the company operates two factories in Hefei and Changshu, both in eastern China. Last year, company CEO Dick Dauch told Automotive News that he hoped to boost annual sales in China from $50 million to $600 million by 2014.