Yuchai denies report of its sedan-making plan

Shanghai, August 22 (Gasgoo.com) China's diesel engine maker Yuchai Group has denied the earlier media report that the engine company would start a project of manufacturing diesel sedans over the next few years, said Automotive News China yesterday.

In mid-July, foreign media reported that Guangxi province-based Yuchai Group was looking to invest 2.5 billion yuan ($367 million) in a passenger vehicle project between 2010 and 2015, and hoping to achieve an annual production capacity of 150,000 units of 0.9L and 1.3L diesel sedans or mini-cars after the project starts operation.

This report was denied ealier this week by a top executive of Yuchai Group, who said that the project in the pipeline is for making diesel engines for sedans, not for making diesel sedans. "How can we make passenger cars? Who will invest in such a project for us?" asked the Yuchai official. However, industry insiders said the growing engine-making giant couldn't rule out the possibility of its producing vehicles in the future.

Yuchai Group has a strong tradition of making diesel engines for commercial vehicles and engineering machinery. The company sold around 500,000 diesel engines in 2007, and in the first half of this year its sales of truck engines rose by 19%, bus engines 26%, generator sets 32%. Yuchai's National III diesel engines has captured approximately 65% of China's total National III bus market.

The company has developed a 1.2L engine (code-named YC4W) used in a passenger car model with Germany's FEV Engine Technology. The YC4W is billed as the first Chinese-made diesel engine that features leading technology, high reliability, energy efficiency and low emissions.