Yulon Motor, Taiwan's largest automaker by revenue, said on August 2 that it had received the green light from China's government to start producing its high-tech Luxgen passenger vehicle there from next year.
Yulon plans to manufacture the car in a joint venture with China's Dongfeng Automobile Co at a plant in eastern China's Zhejiang province, with an initial investment of 1.55 billion yuan (US$229 million.)
"We have received the approval of China's National Development and Reform Commission," the company said.
It said the 50-50 joint venture would have an initial capacity of 120,000 units per year, with the first Luxgen cars rolling off assembly lines next year.
Yulon, which now mainly produces Nissan cars in Taiwan under license, has already invested in a joint venture with a Chinese automaker and Daimler to make Mercedes vans in the southeastern province of Fujian.
The Luxgen project has cost Yulon about 15 billion Taiwanese dollars since it started four years ago.
The first Luxgen, a 2.2-liter minivan for family use, was unveiled in Taiwan in September and since then Yulon has received orders from more than 10,000 local motorists, Luxgen said.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010
