Shanghai (ZXZC)- Dongfeng Motor Corporation held a foundation stone-laying ceremony for its passenger vehicle (PV) base located in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province on December 18. The new program, involving a total investment of RMB9.85 billion, will start construction in January next year and is set to be completed in September 2020.

With a planned annual capacity of 300,000 PVs, the new plant plans to produce a series of sedan, SUV and NEV models carrying latest systems including high-energy-density battery system, intelligent heat control system, highly integrated electric drive system and featuring a number of cutting-edge technologies such as ICV, active safety, autonomous driving, e-POWER and lightweight technologies.

Dongfeng Motor Corporation has been strengthening its investment and capacity deployment in Wuhan Province. In Shiyan, it sets up eGT New Energy Automotive Co., Ltd in partnership with Renault-Nissan Alliance and promotes commercial vehicle (CV) development and upgrade there. The group also speeds up the introduction of Dongfeng Nissan’s mid-end and premium PV models to its Xiangyang base. Besides, the automaker is dedicated to building a vehicle base with annual capacity of 2 million units in Wuhan by deploying programs to enlarge its PV capacity.

The yet-to-be-built PV program will become the sixth car manufacturer in Wuhan, according to an official from Wuhan Automobile Industry Development Office. It is projected that the output value of automobile industry in Wuhan will reach RMB400 billion this year, accounting for roughly a quarter of the city's gross industrial output value.