FAW Car invests $345 mln in engines, R&D

Shanghai November 5 (Gasgoo.com) Faw Car Co. recently said in a statement that it plans to invest 1.60 billion yuan ($239 million) in its new engine project, bringing total investment in the expansion of engine capacity and R&D to 2.3 billion yuan ($345 million), the Beijing Times reported Thursday.

Guo Maolin, assistant manager of FAW Technology Center, said the new engine project will be located in the automaker's Changchun base where the 4GB (1.4T and 1.6L) engines will be manufactured and used to power its Besturn models and self-developed A-Class sedans.

Faw Car has been accelerating its development of auto engines and also announced an investment of 699 million yuan towards a 4GC engine project in August.

FAW's own brand mid- and high-end sedans, such as the Red Flag C131, will be equipped with the 4GC engines, Guo Maolin revealed.

With nearly 1.60 billion yuan to be spent on construction of joint workshops, utility & power equipments, engine blocks and other relevant facilities, the 4GB engine project is expected to be completed in 2012, when the Changchun base will be able to produce 20,000 4GB engines per year, excluding the first phase capacity of 20,000 4GC engines.