Volvo unveils joint venture in Daqing

DAQING -- Volvo Car Corp. unveiled its joint venture with Chinese parent Zhejiang Geely Holding Group last week in the northeast China city of Daqing.Geely holds a 70 percent stake in the new joint venture, while Volvo owns the remainder.Although Geely owns it, Volvo is still regarded as a foreign brand by the Chinese government. The government's automotive policy requires foreign automakers to form joint ventures with their Chinese peers if they want to produce locally.Volvo's joint venture is scheduled to launch trial production this year. After reaching full production, it will produce up to 80,000 vehicles a year.Volvo hasn't disclosed which models the new venture will produce.In August, the Chinese government finally approved Volvo's application to produce vehicles in China after a lengthy, three-year process that followed Geely's acquisition of Volvo in 2010.That same month, Volvo started building the stretched Volvo S60 at Geely's plant in the southwest China city of Chengdu under a licensing agreement with Geely.For the first eight months of this year, Volvo sold 37,661 cars in China, most of which were the imported Volvo XC60 SUV.