Volvo’s new owner Geely has been given the green light to build a new Volvo factory in Shanghai.
According to local press reports, the 800,000sqm factory will open in the second half of 2012 and have a capacity of 300,000 units per year, not far short of Volvo’s total 2008 global sales of 375,000.
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The new factory, situated in the Jiading Industrial Zone, will reportedly make the C30 and V70. Jiading will also be host to Volvo China’s administrative headquarters, a new research and development centre and a Volvo museum.
Much of this investment has been underpinned by the State-controlled Shanghai Jiaerwo Investment Company, formed last February.
According to Chinese press reports, it signed a joint venture with Geely and provided around £94m to help the company both purchase Volvo and build the new facilities.
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Re: Volvos to be built in China
To be pedantic, it's actually the S40 and a long wheel base version of the S80 that are built there already. The last S60 was not a contemporary of the former cars, being launched in 2000.
Re: Volvos to be built in China
Its obvious that Geely is looking for a steady shift in production from Sweden to China. If it was just local demand all they had to do was to add additional capacity to existing operations, but this is a greenfield project.
Feel sorry for Volvo, especially since the R&D operations are to be shifted as well. No offence, but the chinese make cheap but very very tasteless cars. That is not what Volvos are about. This might work in some Asian markets but will kill the brand in the West.
Re: Volvos to be built in China