Renault likely to unveil China production project

Shanghai, September 4 (Gasgoo.com) French car maker Renault SA is expected to leak some information about its mass production project in China within one week, the National Business Daily reported Wednesday.
 
"Renault is set to unveil its investment project globally which naturally includes its production plan in the Chinese market, " an unnamed dealer on his journey to a meeting of Renault global dealers said. The meeting is scheduled to be held in Geneva next week.

One possibility is for Renault to resume its cooperation talks with Dongfeng Motor Co and, together with Nissan Motor, the three sides will likely inject new capital into a three-way joint venture, said the newspaper.

"But with the overall market slowing, a joint venture in the auto industry generally requires large amount of money. Renault has its challenging job ahead," said Jia Xinguang, an independent auto analyst based in Beijing,

The growth rate of China's passenger car market this year is forecast at 15 percent, lower than the average 20 to 25 percent in recent years.

Renault started a joint venture company to produce light commercial vehicle in China early in 1993. But it hasn't got a suitable passenger car partner in the Chinese market since, which results in its low sales volume compared with those rivals who have built production bases in China.

Laguna is Renault's best-selling model in China