Chinese Automaker Prepares to Dump Its Japanese Dance Partners
As we've been saying for years, China is only going to allow foreign automakers to do biz in The People's Republic as long as it takes them to figure out how to do it themselves. Hence the law stipulating that all carmakers setting-up shop in China must do so as part of a joint venture with a Chinese company. And the China half of these companies are already preparing for divorce. Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group, currently shacked-up with Toyota AND Honda, is the latest Chinese automaker to strike on its own. As WardsAuto reports, Guangzhou is readying an as yet undeclared model under an as yet unannounced brand name. "Construction of a research and design center and vehicle plant site already is under way in Guangzhou’s Payu district. The Chinese auto maker will invest some $916 million, including $404 million on the R&D center and $512 million on production facilities in order to launch its own brand of passenger cars by 2010." It's only a matter of time before the Chinese government games the market to favor their "independent" domestic automakers.
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You may have been saying it for years, but where exactly does it say so in the WardsAuto piece? Did you link to the wrong article?