August 3 -- Anhui Jianghuai Automotive (Jianghuai) (600418) was rumored to have invested $600 million to set up an automobile manufacturing base in Brazil which may be operational in 2014 and could have annual production capacity of 100,000 units, reports the Shanghai Securities News.

The Jianghuai representative said that the company does indeed have plans for a Brazil-based car factory in Brazil, but added that there are “uncertainties.”

Jianghuai has paid close attention to the Brazil market, the source said. According to statistics, the company received orders of 22,559 vehicles in the first half of 2011 from the Brazil market. Jianghuai sold 12,000 cars in Brazil between March 18 and the end of June this year, and sales volume of Jianghuai Tongyue are expected to hit 40,000 cars by the end of this year for a two-percent share of the country’s car market.

On Monday, Jianghuai Automotive launched the new Heyue model in Brazil. The Hefei-based company hopes to enter the Argentina market and plans to set up another automobile assembly plant in South America.