Coinciding with the inauguration of the new GAC Fiat
plant, production activities have officially kicked off
at the new Magneti Marelli plant in Changsha, capital of
the Hunan province. The new plant is dedicated to the
supply of exhaust systems to GAC Fiat, the 50/50 joint
venture between Fiat and GAC (China’s sixth largest
manufacturer of automobiles, buses and industrial
vehicles).The
new facilities are located in the Supplier Park of GAC
Fiat, in the Economic & Technical Development Zone of
Changsha. The Magneti Marelli plant covers an area of
21,000 square meters, 10,000 of which are intended for
production activities. At full capacity, the plant will
employ 200 workers and will be able to produce up to
300,000 systems per year. The Changsha plant will be
producing complete exhaust systems based on the know-how
consolidated in the sector by Magneti Marelli, which set
up a production base in China back in 2000 in order to
serve local customers.
The Changsha
facilities will also supply the exhaust systems for the
Fiat Viaggio on site, soon to be sold on the Chinese
market.
For this automobile,
Magneti Marelli supplies other hi-tech components in the
following areas: Lighting, Powertrain, Electronic
Systems, Exhaust Systems and Suspension Systems. The
supplied components include front headlamps with
bi-halogen elliptic module, rear LED lights, Body
Computer, instrument cluster, the Hands-Free Module with
voice recognition for incoming/outgoing calls through
Bluetooth connection, front and rear shock absorbers and
components for the Dual Clutch transmission (hydraulic
kit and electronic control unit) used for the 1.4 T-Jet
88 and 110 KW engine. For this engine, Magneti Marelli
also supplies the Motorized Throttle Valve (ETC), the
injectors and the intake manifold.
"We
are happy to contribute to the start of the industrial
initiative of the GAC Fiat JV in China," said Eugenio
Razelli, C.E.O. of Magneti Marelli, "with a modern
production plant that further expands our footprint in
China, in a key sector for the automotive industry. In
this initiative, we once again contribute the know-how
and experience we have been acquiring on the Chinese
market since 1996, through constant business growth, to
the sectors where the company operates and to the offer
of sophisticated technologies aimed at the local
market."
Magneti Marelli has been operating in China since 1996
with production plants and R&D/Engineering Centres in
Shanghai (for Powertrain products and Exhaust Systems),
Wuhu (Powertrain and Automotive Lighting products),
Guangzhou (Electronic Systems), Hangzhou (shock
absorbers in JV with Wanxiang Qianchao Company) and in
the Chaoyang economic and industrial district of the
city of Changchun (JV with FUDI for powertrain
components).
