Press TV (Caracas) - The Venezuelan government plans to open the first car-assembly plant this month to operate with 100% Venezuelan capital from a joint venture made up by the state and the private sector, as reported by the Ministery of Science. The company, which will serve from Chinese technology, assembled the first car last week.
Government representatives have also stated thatthere will be 11 car- assembly facilities built in the country for the first quarter of 2012 . These new factories are aimed at contributing to the government's policy of manufacturing and distributing low-cost technology products for the people.
Another attempt to manufacture in-house cars came up in 2006 with the factory Venirauto, one of the joint ventures between Venezuela and Iran where the Caribbean country took advantage of Iranian car-making technology to satisfy the growing demand for vehicles.
According to the Automobile Chamber of Venezuela, the automotive industry has reported a drop in production levels from 2008, when sales fell by nearly 45% due to the strict currency exchange control implemented since 2003 that hindered companies from buying imported goods. However, in the first half of 2011, sales of imported cars rose 35.3% over the same period of 2010.
The Minister for Science, Technology and Intermediate Industries, Ricardo Menendez has said the first car assembly plant will be opened on the 29th of August. It will have a production capacity of around 18,800 vehicles a year and create up to 200 direct jobs.
