BIZCHINA / Overseas Investment
Skoda to expand auto production in China
(AP)
Updated: 2006-06-22 11:37
Czech automaker Skoda said Wednesday it plans to expand future production
in China to three model ranges from the currently planned one in a bid to
build market share in the fast-growing Chinese market.
The company, a unit of Germany's Volkswagen AG, said in news release that
production of the Octavia will begin next year, with the Favia and Superb
model ranges to follow.
The broadened product line will "reinforce the expansion of the brand
Skoda to the Chinese market," the company said.
All three models will be made at Volkswagen's sprawling Shanghai joint
venture plant, where a team from Skoda is already on site readying for
production, Skoda said. All vehicles made there are intended for the
Chinese domestic market, it said.
The move "shows we see China as one of the strategic markets for the
brand's future growth," Skoda Auto AS chairman Detlef Wittig was quoted
as saying in the news release.
Skoda's growth strategy also includes assembly and other manufacturing
projects in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Russia, Bosnia, and India.
In China, the company is entering a fast-growing but increasingly
competitive auto market which is about to pass Japan as the world's
second-largest.
General Motors Corp., was the top foreign automaker in China last year,
with 11 percent of the market and 665,390 units sold, followed by
Volkswagen.
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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