Renault-Dongfeng venture Ok'd

Recent domestic media reports said the joint venture between French carmaker Renault and Wuhan-headquartered Dongfeng Motor Corp has been granted government approval and both partners plan to break ground on a new plant later this month. Scheduled to begin production in 2015, the facility is expected to first produce Renault's SUV and MPV and have a designed annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles, the reports said.

Local automakers on Fortune list

For the first time Beijing-based BAIC Group and Guangzhou Automobile Group Co have joined the Fortune Global 500 list. On the 2013 list released earlier this month, BAIC ranked 336th and GAC ranked 483rd. Other domestic carmakers on the list are SAIC Group, FAW Group, Dongfeng Motor Corp, China South Industries Group Corp - parent of Chang'an Automobile Group - and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co.

Shanghai rental outlet for electrics

Shanghai-based eHi Car Services recently opened the city's first rental outlet for all-electric cars with 50 Roewe models made by local automaker SAIC Motor Corp. The car rental company said that it plans to open two more such outlets in Shanghai this year and have additional brands available

One-millionth locally made Skoda

Skoda recently rolled its millionth locally produced car off the assembly line at Shanghai Volkswagen. The brand owned by Volkswagen started production in China six years ago and began its first imports to the country earlier this year. It currently builds four models - the Octavia, Fabia, Superb and Rapid - in China, where it sells about one-fourth of its global total.

New Faurecia HQ and tech center

France's Faurecia, the world's sixth-largest automotive equipment supplier, recently opened its new tech center and China headquarters in Shanghai. The new 18,000- square-meter facility includes the R&D hub for three of Faurecia's four main business divisions: automotive seating, interior systems and exteriors. The number of project technicians and engineers for the three core businesses will increase from 500 to 800, the company said.

Jaguar Land Rover sales rise 16%

British luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover reported a 16 percent year-on-year increase in first-half sales in China to 42,155 vehicles, including nearly 8,000 Jaguars and more than 34,000 Land Rovers. The company had authorized 170 dealerships in China by June, 120 of them now in operation.

Motoring

(China Daily 07/15/2013 page19)