May 16,2008  From http://english.autoinfo.gov.cn

May 16--Starting in 2010, Renault will once again build vehicles in China, sources say. 
     
The French carmaker plans to build a new minibus vehicle at an existing facility in Hubei province. 
     
Renault will invest 1.5 billion yuan (？140million) in the minibus project, code-named W72, industry sources say. It aims at an initial production of 40,000 units annually. 
     
Renault will build its new minibus at a plant previously known as the Sanjiang Renault Automotive Co., based in Xiaogan, 40 kilometers north of the automotive industry hub of Wuhan. 
     
Aside from China, Renault plans to sell the new minibus in a range of emerging markets, including Brazil, India and Russia, sources say. 
     
Renault is currently one of the few global automakers with no vehicle production in China. 
     
The French firm launched joint-venture production of the "Trafic" commercial minibus in 1994 with Sanjiang Space Industry Group . Dwindling sales of the vehicle led to a production halt in 2002. 
     
Renault has been eyeing re-entry into the Chinese market ever since. Beatrice Foucher-Sybord, Renault’s director of product development, told Automotive News Europe earlier this year that "we certainly have a project for being in China." 
     
Foucher-Sybord insisted, however, that the company’s expansion into India and Russia would take precedence, in the short-term, over its planned re-entry into China. 
     
A Renault spokeswoman in Paris declined to comment on the French carmaker’s future China expansion plans. 
     
Sources say the launch of minibus production is part of Renault’s wider plan to build up its supplier base before venturing into passenger-car production. 
     
A government source says that Renault has no plans to build a passenger vehicle with Sanjiang. 
     
Instead, Renault is expected to base its future passenger vehicle plans around a new partnership with Dongfeng Motor Corp., which is also based in Hubei province. 
     
Dongfeng Motor already operates a successful joint venture with Renault’s Japanese alliance partner Nissan. 
     
In 2007, Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Co . -- a 50-50 joint venture between Dongfeng Motor and Nissan -- sold 271,915 units. 
     
Industry sources say Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn held discussions with senior executives from Dongfeng Motor during last month’s Beijing auto show on a future passenger-vehicle partnership. 
     
Ghosn told participants in a press roundtable that there was no doubt Renault will soon produce passenger cars in China. "We know the partner, we know it’s coming," Ghosn said, "The only question is when." 
     
Relaunching Chinese production could help Renault realize Ghosn’s global growth ambitions. The CEO has committed the company to worldwide sales of more than 3.3 million units in 2009 , an 800,000-unit rise from 2005 levels.

Editor: Haijing Qu