Southeast V3 Lingyue to go on sale by October

Shanghai, August 29 (Gasgoo.com) Fujian-based Chinese carmaker Southeast Motor had its first self-developed compact sedan, called V3 Lingyue, rolling off line yesterday, and will put the car on sale by October to boost the company's market growth, said sina.com.cn today.

As a strategic own-brand model of the automaker, the new V3 Lingyue model is equipped with the all-new 1.5L MIVEC engine based on the cutting-edge engine technology of Mitsubishi Motors, a Japanese investor and partner of Southeast Motor. The new engine, made by Harbin Dongan Mitsubishi, delivers powerful performance, rapid reaction, high security and low fuel consumption.

The compact sedan is expected to go on the market in late September or early October, priced at 60,000 yuan ($8,780) to 80,000 yuan, about 40,00 yuan lower than Lancer, a sedan jointly developed by Southeast and Mitsubishi. The Chinese carmaker believes that the price, plus excellent features sharing with Mitsubishi, Chrysler and Dodge cars, would make the V3 Lingyue more competitive than other cars of its kind in the market.

Southeast Motor plans to launch one A-class or B-class proprietary car in each of the coming few years to boost its market growth. The company is confident about its target of selling 80,500 vehicles in 2008, a rise of 34% over last year. And the roll-out of its new V3 Lingyue model is seen as a key step to this goal.