Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. began building the Jeep Renegade last week at an assembly plant in the south China city of Guangzhou.

 

The Renegade will go on sale next week during the Beijing auto show at a starting price of less than 200,000 yuan ($30,920), according to GAC.

 

The Renegade is the second Jeep model produced in China after the Cherokee, which hit the Chinese market in November.

 

The Guangzhou plant can produce up to 160,000 vehicles a year at full capacity.

 

This year, the plant is to launch production of another Jeep-badged compact SUV. GAC and FCA have not disclosed further details about that vehicle.

 

GAC Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Co., a 50-50 partnership established in 2010 between FCA and GAC, builds the Jeep Cherokee as well as two Fiat compact sedans -- the Viaggio and Ottimo -- at its plant in the central China city of Changsha.

 

Because of the slow introduction of new models, GAC Fiat's sales plunged 42 percent last year from a year earlier to 39,500 vehicles, according to Turbo Insight, a Beijing-based consultancy.