BAIC to unveil first premier car by year end

Reuters (Beijing) - Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co (BAIC) will unveil its first premier car at the end of the year, followed by three other models in the coming years, the 21th Century Business Herald said on Wednesday.

The car, C70C will be competing with BMW's 5 series and Volkswagen's Audi A6L models, the newspaper said, citing Gu Lei, the head of BAIC's research division.

BAIC is investing more than 15 billion yuan ($2.3 billion) to build its car and mini vehicle manufacturing facilities in the country, including a 4.1 billion yuan car plant in Beijing, it said.

Annual capacity for the first phase of the Beijing plant will reach 150,000 units by the end of this year, rising to 300,000 units by the end of 2013, it said.

The company aims to go public next year to help bankroll its expansion, it said.

Other cars BAIC plans to roll out include C80K, targeting the higher-end segment and C60F and C50E, targeting the mass market, it added.