SUV-maker Huatai Auto to foray into sedan market

Shanghai, November 7 (Gasgoo.com) Rongcheng Huatai Automobile, a Chinese SUV manufacturer based in Shandong province, has announced its plan to make and sell its first in-house developed sedan in the second half of 2009, said Beijing Times today. This Huatai-badged sedan will rival Besturn, Bingyue and Eastar in China's B-class car market.

This sedan developed by Huatai Auto will integrate the exterior design by a Chinese auto design firm as well as the Italian VM engine and German ZF transmission that Huatai is going to make in its new factory in Ordos city, Inner Mongolia. Carrying the Huatai logo, the sedan will come in the gasoline and diesel powered versions, with young businesspeople and white-collars as its target customers.

As an emerging Chinese SUV manufacturer founded in 2000, Huatai Auto has set its new strategy of developing mid- to high-end sedans. Over the past few years, Huatai Auto has been a powerful supplier of SUVs in the Chinese and global markets. Its entry into the sedan segment will expand its product lineup and turn a new page in its future growth.

The Chinese SUV maker, also a partner of South Korea's Hyundai Motor, introduced the Hyundai Sante Fe SUV in China in early 2008. Huatai has been making the Hyundai Terracan SUV for several years, and have received permission from Hyundai to produce the two SUV models under Huatai's own brand. Huatai will make Matrix as well, a medium- and small-size MPV model of Hyundai Motor, to compete with the Nissan Livina and FAW Haima's Premacy.

Huatai is really positioned to shake up the Chinese SUV market. But its ambitions will not stop here -- the SUV maker is making its foray into the sedan market. The company recently said its new facility in southern China's Inner Mongolia will start making Italian VM engines and German ZF transmissions in mid-2009 to supply its B-class car manufacturing, among others.