Yulon Sees Higher ROI from Affiliated Dongfeng Nissan in China

Taipei, July 3, 2012 (CENS)--Yulon Nissan Motor Co., a joint venture between Taiwan's Yulon Group and Nissan Motor of Japan, expects even higher ROI from its affiliate Dongfeng Nissan, a joint venture between Chinese automaker Dongfeng Group and Nissan, over the next few years.

Dongfeng Nissan is constructing a new factory in Dalian, Liaoning Province to come online in 2014, with the added capacity by 2015 to push Dongfeng Nissan's total annual capacity to 1.5 million to 2 million cars.

Dongfeng Nissan has debuted its Venucia own-brand D50 sedan; while the Yulon Group of Taiwan has participated in the exterior design. Dongfeng Nissan also plans to launch five new Venucia models to help Yulon make more money. Some 4,000 Venucia D50s were sold immediately in May after demonstration, pushing the firm's monthly sales volume to a record high of some 78,000 units.

Through Yulon Nissan, Taiwan's Yulon Group currently has about 10% shareholding in Dongfeng Nissan, which in 2011 contributed ROI of more than NT$3.6 billion (US$120 million), with a record high earnings per share (EPS) of NT$12.8 (US$0.43) in 2011 (of which about NT$12, or US$0.4 was contributed from Dongfeng Nissan).

Dongfeng Nissan has been aggressively building factories in recent years, having in 2011 completed construction of a plant (the second one) in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province to raise total annual capacity to some 1.2 million units, with the other four factories in Guangzhou, Xiangyang of Hubei Province, and Zhengzhou of Henan Province.

The company's new factory in Dalian will be completed in 2012 with initial annual capacity of 150,000 units, and production potential of 300,000 units to be reached some time afterward.

Industry insiders say that Hua-chuang Automobile Information Technical Center Co. Ltd. (HAITEC), the vehicle-development arm of Yulon Group, was commissioned to design the exterior of the D50. HAITEC has the chance to win more projects from Dongfeng Nissan if market response to the D50 continues to be hot.