Qoros Automotive, the joint venture between Chery Automobile and Israel Corporation, will start producing a compact car in 2013 to compete with global brands such as Toyota Corolla in China's slowing market.
Guo Qian, chairman and chief executive of the 50-50 joint venture, said in an interview that the namesake brand car, Qoros, would roll off a line in Changshu, Jiangsu province with an annual capacity of 150,000 units.
'We will double the capacity to 300,000 units, but there's no timetable for the expansion for now because it depends on the sales,' he said. 'We expect the mainland car market to witness stable growth in the coming years.'
China's passenger car sales jumped 32 per cent last year, but growth slowed to 3.15 per cent during the first 10 months of this year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
Production of the car was expected to begin in early 2013, Guo said.
He said that other models, including a hatchback, would also be developed. 'We want to focus on the first model before making plans for other ones.'