Changan Auto to invest 20 bln yuan for engine base

China's Chongqing Changan Auto Co., a Chinese partner with Ford Motor, said on Sunday it planned to invest 20 billion yuan ($2.93 billion) by 2012 to build an engine development and manufacturing base.

In a statement, the company 000625.SZ said the base would include development of engines for hybrid vehicles, but it did not say where the plant would be located.

The company also said it would start selling hybrid vehicles to retail buyers and aimed to sell more than 10,000 hybrid vehicles in next two years.

In the first quarter, Changan said it sold a total of 306,500 vehicles, up 13 percent from the year-ago period.