Volkswagen Plans to Build Plant in China

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Volkswagen Plans to Build Plant in China

48 minutes ago Add Business - Reuters to My Yahoo!

INGOLSTADT, Germany (Reuters) - Volkswagen AG (VOWG.DE) plans to build a new automotive plant in China to help it reach an annual production capacity of 1.6 million vehicles by 2008, Europe's largest carmaker said on Sunday.

VW Chief Executive Bernd Pischetsrieder and management board member Folker Weissgerber signed a corresponding letter of intent on Sunday together with one of its two Chinese partners, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation.

Volkswagen, which increased deliveries in 2003 by 36 percent to some 698,000 cars in China, also builds cars for the local market with its other joint venture partner, First Automobile Works.

"This year we're aiming to produce and sell more than 800,000 vehicles in China," Pischetsrieder said. "We will double this volume by 2008."

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The Chinese have been building -- under their own badges -- VW vehicles for years. They are some of the mostly widely owned vehicles in China. I've ridden in them all over Beijing, including a terrifying ride out to the old international airport.

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