Geely plans to produce Volvo SUVs in Chengdu base

Shanghai, July 28 (Gasgoo.com) Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, who is expected to close its acquisition of Sweden's Volvo Cars in the third quarter of this year, plans to produce the Volvo SUVs in its Chengdu base in southwest China's Sichuan province, relevant sources revealed lately.

The western part of China is a key market for Volvo, particularly for Volvo SUVs, an executive from Volvo said.

Moreover, from the perspective of Geely's distribution pattern in the country, Chengdu is apparently a big market, Geely Chairman Li Shufu said.

Apart form the high cost caused by Sichuan-born employees' returning home during holidays, shipping the cars to Chengdu will also cost an arm and a leg. Besides, the cars are easily scratched, Li Shufu added.

Reportedly, Geely has earlier established an 870,000-square-meter production base with four workshops: for assembly, painting, stamping and welding, in Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone.

At present, the first phase of the Sichuan plant has been completed. Geely plans to manufacture the Volvo XC60 and XC90 crossovers when the plant enters full operation. The overall capacity of the Chengdu base is expected to reach 300,000 units.