Chinese automaker to build plant in Mexico

Shanghai. November 12 (Gasgoo.com) - Tianjin FAW Xiali Automobile Co, a subsidiary of China's First Automobile Works, is ready to build an overseas plant in Mexico by the end of this month, Beijing-based Jinghua Newspaper reported today.

Tianjin FAW Xiali has signed cooperation contract with a local partner in Mexico to produce a sedan model called Weizhi, said Dang Ren, assistant general manager of the company. Dang said the vehicle will be priced at about $13,000, but he did not reveal further details about the contract.

Dang said the company has initially hoped to open its first overseas plant in Russia, but later changed the plan on the grounds that the Russia market was saturated after a wave of foreign investments and that the Russian government has set up obstacles to prevent the flooding of foreign investments.

Mexico is Latin America's largest vehicle exporter and the world's seventh largest producer of vehicles. Many major automakers, including Ford, GM, Daimler Chrysler, Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen etc, have already established assembly plants in the region.