DALIAN, China, June 25 (Kyodo) — Nissan Motor Co. said Monday its Chinese unit Donfeng Motor Co. has begun constructing in Dalian, Liaoning Province, its fourth Chinese plant, to start operating in 2014 with an initial output capacity of 150,000 vehicles, eventually doubling to 300,000.
Nissan also said Donfeng Motor, owned equally by Nissan and China's Dongfeng Group, signed a contract to supply 1,000 electric vehicles to Dalian city's EV pilot project by 2014.
A total 5 billion yuan (about 62.5 billion yen) will be invested in building the plant on a 1.27 million square meter plot to manufacture cars in China's north eastern city.
To date, Nissan's production plants have been concentrated in southern China. Nissan Executive Vice President Hiroto Saikawa said, "Once the Dalian plant is completed, (Nissan's) production capacity in China will be over 1.5 million units, creating a system for supplying vehicles to all of China."
For Dalian's electric vehicle pilot project, the joint venture will provide cars based on its Venucia brand models developed for the Chinese market. The EV is expected to be used as office cars and taxis.
The automaker has provided 15 EVs each to the Wuhan and Guangzhou projects, and further aims to increase its presence in the Chinese EV market by arranging a mass production system.
