By Gong Zhengzheng (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-07-20 10:10

Japanese carmaker Honda Motor Co's joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile Corp yesterday announced that it will create an all-new brand, the first model of which will be introduced in 2010, a bold move as all major Sino-foreign passenger car partnerships are assembling only overseas marques.

The 50-50 venture, called Guangzhou Honda Automobile Co, said it plans to develop a series of new models that won't bear the Honda imprint through a newly formed research and development center.

But the company, which is making Honda's mid-sized Accord, compact City, subcompact Fit and Odyssey wagon in the southern city of Guangzhou, didn't reveal the name of the new brand or what kinds of new models it will offer.

The venture said it will initially spend 2 billion yuan on a research and development center that is to be operational next year.

Guangzhou Honda's new-brand plan follows regulators' calls for Sino-foreign car ventures to accelerate development capacity and even create their own badges instead of being low-cost assemblers of overseas nameplates.

Chen Jianguo, an official from the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top industry watchdog, said yesterday that "Guangzhou Honda is leading joint ventures in building new brands which will make the others attach great importance in this field".

Shanghai Volkswagen Automobile Co, the Sino-German car venture, said on Wednesday that it and Volkswagen AG would jointly develop a new mid-range sedan for the Chinese and North American markets.

But the new sedan, based on the venture's existing Passat Linyu, will still bear the Volkswagen logo.

Top executives from Guangzhou Honda and the parent Guangzhou Automobile said the venture's new-brand program is the result of its growing scale of economy and localization as well as strong financial and intellectual reserves.

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