Jaguar Land Rover Wins Approval for Plant in China

China's National Development and Reform Commission has given permission for Jaguar Land Rover and Chery Automobile Co. to form a 12.1 billion-yuan ($1.9 billion) joint venture to make Land Rover SUVs and Jaguar cars.

The venture, which will be based in Changshu in Jiangsu Province, will have annual capacity of 130,000 vehicles and an unspecified number of engines.

Chinese news reports say the factory near Shanghai will open in 2014. JLR told the BBC earlier this month that production will begin with the Freelander or Range Rover Evoque compact SUV. The partners plan to add production of Jaguar models later and to co-develop vehicles for a new China-specific brand.

Chery and JLR finalized the joint venture agreement in March. Their venture request has raced through China's often-glacial approval process.