Taiwan's China Motor to locally produce Chrysler minivan in 2006

Taipei, Feb. 23, 2005 (CENS)--Taiwan's China Motor Corp. (CMC), in partnership with Mitsubishi Motors of Japan, will start local production of the Town & Country minivan model for Chrysler of the U.S. in April 2006, according to company sources.

CMC did not rule out setting up a joint-venture company with Chrysler to tap the domestic automobile market. In addition, the two parties' cooperation ties may be extended to exports of complete autos to other nations in Asia and exports of parts to the U.S., as well production in mainland China (CMC has an affiliate, South East Motor Corp. in China, to produce Mitsubishi car models).

CMC has decided to hold a ceremony in April 18, 2006 to kick off production of the Town & Country minivan in Taiwan. CMC will first produce a 3,300cc long-axle model, aiming to sell 5,000 units per year on the island.

Industry sources said that Chrysler's future business in Taiwan might be handled by a new venture between DaimlerChrysler Taiwan (DCT) and CMC, which may commission CMC to locally produce Chrysler car models and sell them through CMC's established distribution channels on the island.

CMC president Huang Wen-cheng stressed that details of the cooperation project are still under negotiation.

Industry sources said that CMC's cooperation with Chrysler is expected to be expanded to include production of other Chrysler models in Taiwan, if CMC can present its competitiveness in quality, cost and efficiency. CMC officials also reported that if the Town & Country project is successful, CMC is expected to export auto parts to Chrysler's plant in the U.S.

The scheduled cooperation project with Chrysler is also expected to allow CMC to access other technical resources than from Mitsubishi and further boost CMC's capacity-utilization rate.

Huang claimed that CMC is already an internationalized automaker and an important strategic partner with DaimlerChrysler in mainland China. DaimlerChrysler, Fujian Automobile Group and CMC will jointly set up the DaimlerChrysler Vans (China) Ltd. (DCVC) in Fujian Province, China in April this year to produce Mercedes-Benz commercial-van products.

DCVC is expected to become Mercedes-Benz's Asian production base for light-trucks and –buses as well as the global supply center of aftermarket parts in the future.