Preview of Volvo Cars' first Chinese manufacturing plant in Chengdu
Preview of Volvo Cars' first Chinese manufacturing plant in Chengdu
Volvo Car Group (Volvo Cars) on Wednesday invited an exclusive international media delegation to a preview of what is to be the company's first Chinese manufacturing plant in the city of Chengdu. The factory in Chengdu shows Volvo Cars' commitment to China as a second home market and its customers in China. Pending governmental approval, the first car model to be produced in the Chengdu plant is the Volvo S60L, a long wheel base version of the Volvo S60 specifically aimed at the Chinese market.
The establishment of the Chengdu plant will mark a major milestone for Volvo Cars as it expands its operations in China, the largest car market in the world and Volvo Cars' second home market. Growing its business in China is an important element of Volvo Cars' long-term strategy and business plan, as the company aims to sell 800,000 cars globally.
Establishing the Chengdu plant is an important step in the transformation journey of Volvo Cars and marks the next step in the implementation of the company's global growth strategy. The factory reflects Volvo Cars' continued drive to improve the business and capture growth in the China market.
The plant is located in the Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone, south east of the Chengdu city centre, on a plot area of 500,000 square meters. By the end of this year, the plant is expected to employ a total of approximately 1,100 blue and white-collar workers. Annual production capacity of the plant is 120,000 cars, corresponding to a line speed of 30 cars per hour throughout two work shifts per working day. Volvo Cars' global manufacturing and quality standards have been the base and starting point while planning the plant in Chengdu. This will ensure that the cars produced in Chengdu will be of exact the same quality as the Volvo cars produced in Europe.
Currently, the Chengdu plant is in the process of producing a series of pre-serial production cars. In the third quarter, the plant plans to start production of a final series of verification cars on consumer level. Serial production of consumer cars is expected to commence in the fourth quarter of 2013.