The agreement was signed by Zeng Qinghong, GM of the GAC Group, and Mike Manley, COO for Asia Pacific (APAC) region, Fiat, and president and CEO of Jeep brand, Chrysler Group. According to the framework agreement, the joint venture between GAC, Fiat and Chrysler Group International, which currently manufactures Fiat Viaggio and distributes imported models such as the Fiat 500, Freemont and Bravo in China, will expand its operations to allow the localisation in the coming years of more models from the Fiat portfolio to be introduced in the Chinese market. After Fiat, the next brand planned to be localised by the GAC Fiat JV will be Chrysler Group's Jeep brand (production in China for Chinese market only).
"Following the successful launch of the first product of our JV, the Fiat Viaggio launched last September, this agreement is another milestone in our partnership with Fiat and Chrysler Group. It definitely creates the basis for our JV to reach very ambitious objectives in Chinese market," said Zeng Qinghong.
"2012 was a fruitful year for us. In China, we've gained very positive feedback about the Fiat Viaggio. At the same time, Jeep brand set an all-time sales record both in China and worldwide, which we are proud of," said Mike Manley. "The expansion of the agreement with our GAC partners will allow us to unleash the potential of both our Fiat and Chrysler Group brands in China."
GAC Fiat Automobiles, incorporated on 9 March, 2010, is jointly invested by GAC and Fiat on a 50-50 basis with the initial investment of 5 billion yuan and authorized capital of 1.8 billion yuan.
