Chery Plans $500m Plant in Turkey

Chinese automakers are continuously revising their expansion goals and today's it is Chery's turn to announce its ambitious plans. The company is looking to open a plant in Turkey that would obviously allow the company to seek new markets, especially those in Europe in which government scrappage schemes are still supporting new car sales.

According to gasgoo.com, Chery Automobile Co. is ready to invest up to $500 million for a new factory in Turkey but further details are yet to be announced. It appears that two Chinese executives have visited the northwestern province of Sakarya in January 2009 to find a site for the construction of the new factory, the aforementioned source informed citing Anatolia news agency.

"The Chinese 'Chery" automotive firm has applied to Turkish authorities to make US$500 million of investments in Turkey, and open to world markets via our country," Turkey's Industry & Trade Minister Nihat Ergun said at the Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany.

Chery isn't the only Chinese automaker that plans to invest money in new Turkish plants. Dongfeng announced earlier this month that it will prepare around $250 million for a new facility in the country that will employ 1,000 workers and will produce around 52,000 units per year.

The factory will support Dongfeng's expansion in Europe, as it will be in charge of building cars belonging to the Chinese manufacturer for both the Turkish and overseas markets. Some of the models built in Turkey will be exported to Europe, the Middle East and Africa but it's still unclear how exactly the company plans to sell the models in these regions.