Chery Automobile Co. will establish a joint venture with Japan's Yaskwawa Electric Corp. to produce electric motors and control systems for electric vehicles in the east China city of Wuhu.
The new venture, Chery Yaskawa E-Drive System Co., is structured as a 45-40-15 partnership between Chery, Yaskawa and Wuhu Construction Investment Co., the investment arm of the Wuhu city government.
With an investment of 300 million yuan ($46 million), the venture is expected to start production in September 2017, according to Wuhu's municipal government.
Once operational, the joint venture initially will produce up to 50,000 electric motors a year for Chery. Annual output eventually will increase to 100,000 electric motors.
Chery, a state-owned company headquartered in Wuhu, plans to increase annual EV sales to 200,000, up from 14,147 last year.
In 2015, the company sold 444,690 conventional vehicles, down 0.5 percent according to Turbo Insight, a Beijing-based consultancy.
