Zotye Holding Group is steaming ahead with plans to launch a new brand using platforms from discontinued Fiat S.p.A. cars. Wu Motuo, CEO of the Zotye Group, confirmed that the company has plans to build 11 Fiat-based models. He says production of three Fiat-based cars will begin in January 2009 at a new plant in Changsha, Hunan province.

The three cars are the Lancia Lybra sedan, the six-seat Multipla van and a multi-purpose vehicle. The plant in Changsha is still under construction. The plant is expected to be ready in the next few months. Many Fiat engineers are working to help Zotye locally produce the discontinued Fiat cars, Wu says. Wu declined to give details of the Changsha plant’s size, capacity and number of employees. Kit production of the three Fiat models -- the Lancia Lybra, the Multipla and the MPV -- is expected to begin once the Changsha plant is ready. A total of 4,000 kit assembled Fiat cars will be assembled at the Changsha plant by October. The Fiat-based cars will use a new logo and a new brand, says Wu.

In 2007, Zotye acquired the assembly line tooling and intellectual property rights for Fiat S.p.A’s Lancia Lybra, which was discontinued in Italy in July 2005. The Multipla van is expected to be discontinued in Turin, Italy, in summer 2009. Once that happens the complete assembly line is expected to be shipped to Zotye in China, said the Fiat executive. In 2007, Zotye exported 10,050 Zotye SUVs and sold approximately 20,000 units locally. A total of 5,443 Jiangnan Alto cars were sold in 2007.

Source: autoinfo.gov.cn