China’s Lifan Constructing Assembly Plant in Russia
China's Lifan Industry Group Co. Ltd. has begun building a 1.9 billion-yuan (€279 million) factory in western Russia. The facility is expected to begin operations around the end of 2017.
China's Lifan Industry Group Co. Ltd. has begun building a 1.9 billion-yuan (€279 million) factory in western Russia. The facility is expected to begin operations around the end of 2017.
The 600,000 sq-meter (6.5 million sq-ft) plant in Lipetsk Oblast initially will assemble about 60,000 cars per year from kits imported from China. Chongqing-based Lifan aims to eventually source many parts locally and push annual output in Russia to 200,000 units.
Lifan also says it will establish a research center in Russia that includes work on electric vehicles. The company separately aims to produce 300,000 electric and hybrid cars per year by 2020. It claims it will open 500 stations by then where EVs can be recharged in three minutes or less.
Last year Lifan sold 1.4 million motorcycles and 283,100 sedans, crossover vehicles and small commercial vans. The company introduced its first car nine years ago.
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