Dongfeng Yueda Kia's third production site to be located in Nanjing

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai March 1) - Nanjing's Jiangning Development Zone looks set to be the site of Dongfeng Yueda Kia's third production site, informationtimes.dayoo.com reported today. The report comes as news of the joint venture's new own brand, Dianyue, continues to spread.

Debate among whether Nanjing or Yancheng, Jiangsu would be host to the new site has been ongoing within Dongfeng Yueda Kia. The latter is home to co-owner Yueda Group and has been a traditional production site for Dongfeng Motor in the past. The joint venture's first and second factories are located in Yancheng. However, due to issues regarding taxation and employment, it seems the city will not be selected this time.

Nanjing's Jiangning Development Zone, meanwhile, offers good logistics, being close to water, land and air transportation. The district is located only 16 km away from the JV's sales headquarters, and is home to Bosch, Tata and several other auto part enterprises. Other manufacturers, such as Changan Ford Mazda and Volkswagen, also have production sites in the city.

Dongfeng Yueda Kia was one of the only manufacturers in China to fulfill its 2011 sales target, selling at total of 432,500 vehicles. The JV has set its sights higher this year with a goal of 480,000 sales. Last year, the JV added the new K2 (pictured) and K5 to its product line up, which already includes the Forte, Sportage, Sportage-R, Soul and Cerato. Given that its two current factories have a combined production capability of 430,000 units, finding a way to build more vehicles is one of the JV's key concerns.

At last November's Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition, General Manager Su Nanyong stated that the Dongfeng Yueda Kia was still researching what time is appropriate to begin construction on the new site. To this date, the JV remains tight-lipped about the issue. One employee was quoted as saying "there are several factors behind the matter."

As for the new Dianyue brand, high level staff from the confirmed that progress is going smoothly, with research and development work already completed. The JV confirmed that the brand will have at least one entry-level model.