Jiangling Motors to build Polish car plant

Jiangling Motors plans to build a car factory in Poland to become the first Chinese automaker to establish a European plant, daily Rzeczpospolita reported on Thursday.

Representatives of Jiangling, 30-percent owned by Ford Motor Co, are to hold talks with Polish officials in September concerning the investment, the paper cited the company's top European official as saying.

The plant would produce 400,000 cars annually, outpacing the largest local producer Fiat Auto Poland, which manufactured almost 362,000 vehicles last year.

"Of course, they (cars) cannot be compared to BMW or Volkswagen, but for a small price you will be able to buy one heck of a car," Rzeczpospolita quoted Jiangling's Peter Bijvelds as saying.

Analysts expect China to become the world's second-largest car manufacturer by the end of the decade.

Jiangling, based in the central province of Jiangxi, makes and sells light trucks and pickups as well as Ford commercial vehicles and associated spare parts.