Suzuki Motor Corp. is in talks with Changhe Aircraft Industry (Group) Corp. of China to jointly manufacture car engines, a company spokesman said Wednesday.
"Our company and Changhe have been jointly producing automobiles in China, and now the two companies are studying if they can jointly produce engines," said Suzuki spokesman Takeaki Nukii. "But we have not decided any details yet."
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Suzuki and Changhe Aircraft are in talks to build a new production site in Jiangxi Province to produce 1-liter-class engines. The Chinese firm would acquire property in the city of Jiujiang where the two automakers plan to build a plant at a cost of about 15 billion yen to 22.5 billion yen.
The plant would have an annual capacity of 300,000 engines and would go on line around 2005, according to the paper.
New fuel-cell vehicle
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Wednesday it has developed a vehicle equipped with DaimlerChrysler AG's fuel-cell system. The carmaker has asked the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry to certify the new vehicle, which would enable Mitsubishi to test the vehicle under actual driving conditions on public roads.
The new vehicle is based on Mitsubishi's five-passenger Grandis minivan.
The vehicle can reach a maximum speed of 140 kph. With its 117-liter fuel tank filled with compressed hydrogen, the vehicle can travel 150 km.