China's Chery Automobile and Argentina's Socma S.A. will start making two car models in Uruguay next year with an initial investment of $100 million, the Argentine group said.

Chery Mercosur, which aims to meet growing demand in South American countries belonging to the Mercosur trade bloc, will import parts from Brazil, Argentina and China. The Chinese firm will hold a 51 percent stake, and the Argentine company the remaining 49 percent.

"In the first stage, which is seen lasting three years, 25,000 cars will be assembled per year and, once sufficient market penetration has been achieved, that goal is expected to expand to 100,000 cars," a Socma spokeswoman said. "The investment is for $100 million," she said, adding that production of a high-end vehicle called the Tiggo and a mass-market model called the QQ was scheduled to start in the second-half of next year.

Socma, which is one of Argentina's biggest conglomerates, owns a car-assembly plant in the Uruguayan capital Montevideo where Fiat and Peugeot assembled cars in the 1990s.

Source:佚名