The agreement was signed at Chrysler Headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan, United States, by Zeng Qinghong, General Manager of GAC Group, and Mike Manley, Chief Operating Officer for Asia Pacific (APAC) region, Fiat and President, CEO of Jeep Brand, Chrysler Group.

According to the framework agreement, the joint venture between GAC, Fiat and Chrysler Group International, which currently manufactures Fiat Viaggio and distributes imported models such as the 500, Freemont and Bravo in China, will expand its operations to allow the localisation in the coming years of more models from the Fiat portfolio to be introduced in the Chinese market.

After Fiat, the next brand planned to be localized by the GAC Fiat JV will be Chrysler Group’s Jeep brand with production in China being for the Chinese market only.

"Following the successful launch of the first product of our JV, the Fiat Viaggio launched last September, this agreement is another milestone of our partnership with Fiat and Chrysler Group. It definitely creates the basis for our JV to reach very ambitious objectives in Chinese market," said Qinghong.

"2012 was a fruitful year for us. In China we’ve gained very positive feedback about the Fiat Viaggio. At the same time Jeep Brand set an all-time sales record both in China and worldwide, which we are proud of," said Manley. "The expansion of the agreement with our GAC partners will allow us to unleash the potential of both our Fiat and Chrysler Group brands in China," he believes.