China Motor Corp (
With paid-in capital of NT$1 billion, the venture, Chrysler Group Sales Taiwan Ltd, will be 51 percent owned by DaimlerChrysler Taiwan and 49 percent owned by China Motor.
The new firm is slated to start operations in the fourth quarter of this year, distributing Chrysler and Jeep-branded vehicles in Taiwan.
"We believe that in order to make a success in any market, we require partnership," William Russo, Chrysler International Corp's vice president in charge of the Far East sales, told a press conference in Taipei yesterday.
Given China Motor's expertise and experience in the local market, DaimlerChrysler does not rule out the possibility of future cooperation with China Motor in other products or markets, Russo said.
China Motor is expected to gain technology transfers and raise factory usage through the partnership, China Motor's president Huang Wen-cheng (黃文成) said.
The Taiwanese carmaker, which has an annual capacity of up to 150,000 vehicles, only produces about 80,000 units to 90,000 units a year, according to the company.
The company's Taiwan plant, which manufactures cars for Japan's Mitsubishi Motors, will gain know-how and design capabilities for American and European vehicles through the cooperation deal, Huang said.
China Motor's connection with DaimlerChrysler began in 2003 through a three-way joint venture with Fujian Motor Industry Corp, in which the company agreed to start producing and distributing Mercedes-Benz's vans by the end of this year.
Last December, the company was granted by the German-US automobile giant to assemble the 3.3-liter Town & Country minivan in Taiwan.
The domestically-assembled model will roll off production lines early next year and hit the local market in April, Huang said.
Annual shipments of the minivan are reportedly estimated at around 5,000 units with a price tag of less than NT$1 million each, which is below the price of imported models, which run at about NT$1.4 million each.
When asked about its original partner Mitsubishi Motors' response to the new partnership, Huang said the new cooperation deal does not pose any conflict of interest with Mitsubishi Motors, whose shareholders include DaimlerChrysler. This is because of differences in product segmentation, he said, and reduced costs from higher production levels can benefit Mitsubishi Motors.
The carmaker's move is in line with parent company Yulon Motor Co's (
China Motor, which shipped nearly 160,000 vehicles in Taiwan and China last year, is expected to see a shipment of 200,000 units in both markets this year, the firm said earlier this month.
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