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Changan Auto to Open R&D Center in Detroit

The Detroit Three group is about to change its designation as another carmaker that hopes to become a global player in the auto industry is planning to set up an R&D center in Detroit. Besides General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, the city that these days hosts the 2011 North American International Auto Show will be the home of China's Changan Automobile Group that will use its local facility to performance development, chassis technology engineering and different types of researches on the production process.

A report rolled out by the Xinhua News Agency citing Changan chairman Xu Liuping claims that the Chinese carmaker, which also operates similar facilities in the UK, Italy and Japan, has already sold several hundreds of electric vehicles in the United States, with higher expectations for the near future.

"The U.S. R&D centre will play an important role in improving our global product development system and in capturing global auto technology trends," Xu said according to the Xinhua report.

Changan is currently working in collaboration with Ford and PSA Peugeot Citroen in China and produces most of their models sold there.

But the US market has always been a major target for Changan. Back in 2009, the company was forced to delay its first steps in the United States because a detailed plan regarding the investments to be made in local infrastructures was yet to be finalized. Changan, considered one of the largest Chinese carmakers, intends to launch multiple models in North America, all of which will be manufactured at the only plant in Mexico it currently operates.
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
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Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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