Dongfeng Motor spends 750 mln yuan on independent R&D base

Shanghai, May 20 (Gasgoo.com) Dongfeng Motor Corporation broke ground for its new technical centre in Wuhan on May 16. The new technical centre would be dedicated to the research and development (R&D) of the car styling, design of complete cars, hybrid assembly development, and electronic controlling systems.

The new technical centre of Dongfeng Motor Corporation is approved as the State-level Enterprise Technical Centre by National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China Finance Ministry and some other state organs. The centre, to be the core R&D institution of own-brand products of Dongfeng Motor, will undertake the R&D, experiment and inspection of military all-terrain vehicles, own-brand passenger cars, hybrids, clean fuel automobiles and also other automobile products like engines.

Located at Wuhan Economic Development Area, the technical centre covers a total site area of 225,892 square meters and a total floor area of 120,000 square meters. The first-phase project cost 750 million yuan ($107.14 million) and would embark upon R&D tasks of military all-terrains, passenger cars, hybrids, clean fuel automobiles and also other automobile products by 2012 when the construction is completed.

With the ground-breaking of the new technical center in Wuhan, Dongfeng Motor Corporation has relocated its entire R&D departments and has formed a relatively complete R&D system of Dongfeng passenger cars, commercial cars and new-energy cars.