Beijing Auto seeks passenger car expansion

• Source: Global Times
• [01:38 December 24 2009]
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By Chen Xiaomin

Beijing Automotive Industry Holding said Wednesday it would develop three to four passenger vehicles based on technology purchased from Saab in the next three years.

China's fifth biggest automaker by sales, Beijing Automotive said at a press confer-ence Wednesday for the first time that it had spent $200 million to acquire intellectual property rights for three vehicle platforms, two engine series and two gearboxes.

Beijing Automotive bought the Epsilon 1, GM2900 and GM2400 platforms, which are used to produce models including Saab's existing 9-3 and 9-5. The two engine series – the 2.0 L series and the 2.3 L series – Beijing Automotive bought from Saab each includes four variants.

The purchase also included the F25 and F35 transmissions, as well as documents related to R&D, supplier management, manufacturing and quality management for the technical property.

"The documents, which would enable the company to produce continuously reliable cars, are equally important as the property rights," said the automaker's chairman, Xu Heyi.

The proprietary rights and technical documents will save five to six years of R&D time, the company wrote in a document distributed to journalists at the press conference, adding that it will spend 33 billion yuan ($4.83 billion) on its passenger vehicle division, developing new models and constructing production bases and power-train plants.

The company's Beiqi Foton ranks first among China's commercial vehicle producers by sales, and is also one of the strongest automakers worldwide. Yet its passenger vehicle arm is quite weak due to limited production and R&D experience.