Chery Jaguar Land Rover gains official approval to begin production

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai October 14) - Chery Jaguar Land Rover has officially gained passenger automobile production rights from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Beijing Morning Post reported today. With the MIIT's approval, the countdown to the joint venture's first domestically manufactured automobile is beginning. Its first model, the Range Rover Evoque, will begin mass production at the end of October at its factory in Changshu, Jiangsu; its official market launch will follow soon after. Industry analysts point out that domestically-manufactured vehicles can save up to 25 percent in costs due to not having to pay import duties, which makes them very competitive from a pricing standpoint.

Chery Jaguar Land Rover was officially established in November 2012, with its headquarters in the Changshu Economic Development Zone. A total of 10.9 billion RMB ($1.78b) was invested in the Changshu factory, which is designed to have an annual production capacity of 130,000 vehicles. The factory strives to be one of the world's most advanced facilities, integrating state-of-the art equipment, leading lean and flexible production capabilities and a global point-to-point logistics system. Furthermore, Chery Jaguar Land Rover has established a quality management center that works to ensure the product quality meets the highest of international standards. Construction work on the 360,000 sq. m. factory's major workshops has already been completed. Production of its first automobile body-in-white was done in April, while its first full automobile rolled off the assembly lines at the end of May.

Chery Jaguar Land Rover's domestically manufactured Evoque (pictured) is hinted to appear at the Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition. It will carry a price tag of around 400,000 RMB ($65,177). The domestic Evoque will remain essentially unchanged from the imported version. It will be powered by the JV's brand new 2.0 L turbocharged engine.