Gasgoo.com (Shanghai April 17) - Jianghuai Automobile may establish a factory in Brazil within the year, yicai.com reported today, citing comments made by André Saboya Martins, head of the Brazilian Embassy's trade and investment operations in Shanghai.
JAC was one of the earliest Chinese automobile manufacturers to enter the Brazilian market. In September 2011, the manufacturer's Brazilian subsidiary invested 900 million reais ($451.08m) to establish an automobile assembly site in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia. The site is predicted to begin operation next year.
In 2011 the Brazilian government decided to increase taxes on imported automobiles by 30 percent. The tax has forced many Chinese manufacturers to speed up plans to begin producing vehicles directly in the country in order to maintain their cost advantages. According to Mr. Martins, if a foreign manufacturer produces over 65 percent of their vehicles in the country, it can gain partial exemption from the tax.
According to its recently released performance review, JAC earned a net profit of 495 million yuan ($79.33m) last year. The amount was 20.31 percent less than 2011's figure.
