Hino and Guangzhou officialy together.
source: Gasgoo.comDecember 27, 2007 - Chinese automaker Guangzhou Automobile Group Co and Japan's Hino Motors Ltd held a ground breaking ceremony for their joint venture plant in Guangzhou this Monday.
The USD $200 million joint venture has won Chinese authorities approval to produce commercial vehicles, including trucks and buses, earlier this year. Hino and Guangzhou Auto will each hold 50 percent stakes of the joint venture.
The establishment of Guangqi Hino Motors Co. in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, is based on a reorganization of the two automakers' affiliates, Shenyang Shenfei Hino Automobile Manufacturing Co. and Guangzhou Yangcheng Automobile Co.
"Guangqi Hino will continue to produce Yangcheng Automobile's existing products at its current factory, while it is also building a new plant in Guangzhou that will begin production in mid-2009, "said Zhang Fangyou, chairman of the board of Guangzhou Automobile.
Yangcheng Automobile was founded in 1958 and sell some 5,000 units light trucks or buses annually. The new joint venture company is expected to produce 20,000 heavy trucks and 50,000 light trucks during its first year operation.
Separately, Zhang confirmed that Guangzhou Auto had signed a similar deal with Hyundai Motor Co to build commercial vehicles two year ago, but the plan was scraped due to some unspecific reason on the part of the South Korea automaker. "But this deal has no impact on our long term strategy for commercial vehicles," Zhang added.
