Suzuki to start motorbike production in the PRC

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According to Cai Xun Finance newspaper, Suzuki Motors is planning to start producing motorbikes in China in the second half of 2010, and plan to produce around 500,000 motorbikes per year in China.

Suzuki spokesman Takuma Mizuyoshi was quoted as saying that Suzuki are planning to produce new enviromentally friendly small displacement motorbikes in China.

Previously Suzuki had a JV with Jinan’s Qingqi group to produce motorbikes in China, it is unknown if that JV is still in operation, or if Suzuki plan to work with a different partner.

Gasgoo have more info:

Shanghai, December 2 (Gasgoo.com) In the spring of 2010, Suzuki Motor Corp. will start producing its motorcycles at a new plant in east China’s Jiangsu province, one year behind schedule, Kyodo News reported yesterday, citing company sources.

The start of operation at the Suzuki motorbike factory, now still under construction, had been put off by a year due to the global economic recession and China’s postponement of enforcement of exhaust gas regulations, the Japanese company said.

The new plant will focus on making environmentally-friendly motorbikes with 125-cc engines in a joint venture with China’s largest motorbike maker, Grand River Group, which holds a 60% stake in the venture while Suzuki has 40%.

Suzuki Motor said the new facility will produce about 200,000 units in the first year of operation and increase the annual output to about 500,000 units after it is brought up to full-scale operation.

The company expects the new plant to improve its competitiveness in the Chinese market, where sales of motorbikes are growing, especially in small cities and rural areas, despite global slump.