Yulon to Set Up Parts Factory in China for LUXGEN Own-brand Cars

Taipei, Nov. 3, 2008 (CENS)--Taiwan-based automaker Yulon Motor Co. recently decided to pour US$50 million into setting up an auto-parts plant in Xiaoshan, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China to support its assembled-car business there.

Yulon is scheduled to market its LUXGEN own-brand cars in China in the first half of 2010.

Chen Kuo-rong, Yulon's president, said that Yulon has confirmed the mass-production date for LUXGENs in China, but the new auto-parts plant is to locally produce large, fragile parts requiring higher transportation costs such as windshields, bumpers etc. The auto-assembly factory, on the other hand, would handle engine assembly, parts pressing, coating, welding, and final assembly works, Chen said.

In Taiwan, Yulon plans to launch the 2,200cc turbo-charged LUXGEN MPV in the late second quarter of 2009, with SUV and passenger cars to follow to enrich the new brand's product line. Yulon may also introduce the 2,200cc turbo model, to be locally produced in China, if there is a market.

As a newcomer in the already highly competitive market, Yulon's management has been carefully developing the LUXGEN program. In China, the parent group planed a 30,000 to 50,000 annual capacity in China for the initial stage, while in Taiwan sales volume in the first year is estimated to be about 10,000 units.