FCA-Guangzhou Venture Creates SUV Sales Company

The carmaking venture between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. is launching a new sales company to support an expanding Jeep SUV product lineup in China.

The unnamed company will provide sales support for a full line of SUVs that should be in place by 2018, according to the partners.. GAC Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will begin local output of Jeep Cherokee SUVs later this year and will add two new Jeep models in 2016.

Last December Automotive News China reported the partners were preparing to integrate sales and marketing activities for FCA's Chrysler, Fiat and Jeep brands under a single new joint venture. Chrysler and Fiat previously operated separate sales activities set up before the companies merged.

Jeep sales in China already the brand's second-largest market after the U.S. surged 50% to 88,000 units in 2014. FCA met a global sales goal of 1 million vehicles in 2014 and aims to hike volume to 1.5 million deliveries by 2018.