FAW-VW's Guangdong plant to start production in 2013

Shanghai, May 26 (Gasgoo.com) FAW-VW joint venture has decided to build an 8-billion-yuan ($1.17 billion) new plant in Foshan, Guangdong province to boost business in southern China. Construction will kick off next year and production will start in 2013, media reported today.

The joint venture between FAW Group and Volkswagen AG will build the plant to make 300,000 vehicles of VW and Audi brands a year. The factory will be located in Foshan's Nanhai district.

In April, Volkswagen AG announced its plans to add 1.6-billion-euro investment in China to build two new plants and launch more new models to meet rising demand in the world's largest auto market. Another joint venture Shanghai VW will also build a plant in Guangdong.

FAW-VW's new plant, as part of Volkswagen's southern China strategy, would help the German auto gaint speed up its growth in the south, an affluent regional market that has been dominated by Japanese car makers including Toyota, Honda and Nissan.

Volkswagen aims to boost sales in the south of China from 150,000 units to 500,000 units within three to five years while lifting market share to around 19% from 12% in 2008.