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As the only Chinese automaker participating in this year’s North American International Auto Show, GAC (Guangzhou Auto) puts three alternative-fuel Trumpchi models on display in Detroit. Yet, it is not the cars that draw most attention to GAC. Under spotlight is the agreement the company reached with the Fiat-Chrysler alliance on producing Jeep SUVs in China.
Fiat’s intention to re-introduce Jeep to China has been known for some time. As the GAC-Fiat joint venture established itself and started production in Changsha, the capital of Hunan, many expected Jeep to find a Chinese home there too. So it comes as a surprise that, according to sources at GAC, Guangzhou will get the production line for the iconic American SUV brand.
In Changsha, where Fiat Viaggio is made, GAC-Fiat runs a factory that can roll out 140,000 vehicles a year. It plans to construct a new one in Guangzhou that will initially have an annual production capacity of 100,000 Jeeps a year (Alfa Romeo cars reportedly may also be manufactured there in the future).
GAC has not named the first Jeep model that is to roll off the line in Guangzhou. According to Zeng Qinghong, the company’s General Manager, it will be a newly developed car. "Jeep-brand products will be released in China towards the end of 2014. What is to go on sale at that time will not be one of the models currently available in China as imports. It will be an all-new Jeep SUV built on the latest platform, "said Mr. Zeng.
Two cars fit the description: the next generation Liberty and the B-segment, "baby" Jeep that will share a platform with Fiat 500x. As the popularity has already been built up for Liberty in China, where it saw sales surging 343% last year, its upcoming replacement may be the better choice. What’s more, local production of the next-gen Liberty may be easier, because it will share mechanic DNA with Fiat Viaggio, the Chinese version of Dodge Dart.
By basing Jeep in Guangzhou, its home city, GAC eyes a deepened cooperation with Fiat-Chrysler. "In the beginning period, Jeep models will be marketed through GAC’s dealership network. Jeep and GAC Trumpchi may be displayed in different showrooms, but can share repair shops. This would be a fast, effective sales approach. We do not rule out the possibility that a joint venture between Chrysler and GAC would be established in the future," says a high-level GAC official.
Jeep SUVs are currently sold in China through 145 Chrysler dealerships. Their deliveries more than doubled in 2012, making China the largest Jeep market outside North America.
http://chinaautoweb.com/2013/01/gac...ikely-to-be-the-first-model-to-roll-off-line/
Fiat’s intention to re-introduce Jeep to China has been known for some time. As the GAC-Fiat joint venture established itself and started production in Changsha, the capital of Hunan, many expected Jeep to find a Chinese home there too. So it comes as a surprise that, according to sources at GAC, Guangzhou will get the production line for the iconic American SUV brand.
In Changsha, where Fiat Viaggio is made, GAC-Fiat runs a factory that can roll out 140,000 vehicles a year. It plans to construct a new one in Guangzhou that will initially have an annual production capacity of 100,000 Jeeps a year (Alfa Romeo cars reportedly may also be manufactured there in the future).
GAC has not named the first Jeep model that is to roll off the line in Guangzhou. According to Zeng Qinghong, the company’s General Manager, it will be a newly developed car. "Jeep-brand products will be released in China towards the end of 2014. What is to go on sale at that time will not be one of the models currently available in China as imports. It will be an all-new Jeep SUV built on the latest platform, "said Mr. Zeng.
Two cars fit the description: the next generation Liberty and the B-segment, "baby" Jeep that will share a platform with Fiat 500x. As the popularity has already been built up for Liberty in China, where it saw sales surging 343% last year, its upcoming replacement may be the better choice. What’s more, local production of the next-gen Liberty may be easier, because it will share mechanic DNA with Fiat Viaggio, the Chinese version of Dodge Dart.
By basing Jeep in Guangzhou, its home city, GAC eyes a deepened cooperation with Fiat-Chrysler. "In the beginning period, Jeep models will be marketed through GAC’s dealership network. Jeep and GAC Trumpchi may be displayed in different showrooms, but can share repair shops. This would be a fast, effective sales approach. We do not rule out the possibility that a joint venture between Chrysler and GAC would be established in the future," says a high-level GAC official.
Jeep SUVs are currently sold in China through 145 Chrysler dealerships. Their deliveries more than doubled in 2012, making China the largest Jeep market outside North America.
http://chinaautoweb.com/2013/01/gac...ikely-to-be-the-first-model-to-roll-off-line/