China's Gonow To Invest $10m In Sa Car Factory

Zhejiang Gonow Auto, the manufacturer of the Gonow range of vehicles from China, has appointed a new southern African distributor and has plans to invest $10 million in South Africa to establish an assembly plant by 2013.
 
Ruan Zaosheng, the executive director of Gonow Auto International, said yesterday the plant was likely to be set up either in Durban or Pretoria.
 
Ruan said Gonow had established three factories outside China, in Thailand, Egypt and Iran, and its vehicles were now exported to 80 countries.
 
Its future international market expansion involved plans to build another three assembly plants located in South America, South Africa and Poland.
 
Ruan was speaking at the official launch of Vermillion Motor Holdings, the wholly Chinese-owned company whose six Chinese shareholders are permanent residents in South Africa, that has been appointed the distributor of the Gonow range in South Africa.
 
Gonow was previously launched into the country in 2007 by Gonow Auto South Africa, a 100 percent empowered subsidiary of holding company Boston Super Group in Boksburg, which went into liquidation in October last year.
 
Vermillion has been established specifically for the purpose of being a multi-brand importer/distributor of automotive product from China.
 
Jonathan Qin, Vermillion's managing director, said yesterday the company had signed import distribution agreements with two manufacturers, Zhejiang Gonow Auto from Taizhou and Tianjin-based Tanqi Tianjin Meiya, which manufactures and markets the Meiya vehicle brand, and negotiations with several other Chinese manufacturers were taking place.
 
The Meiya brand is also not new to the country. It was launched in the country in 2007 by McCarthy Motor Holdings (MMH), part of the listed Bidvest Group, but withdrawn from the market towards the end of 2008.
 
Imperial Holdings and MMH subsequently established a joint venture import and distributorship company for their Chinese brands, chery and FOTON, but the venture plans to expand the Chinese brands it represents in South Africa.
 
Qin said this was Vermillion's entry into the motor industry but the investors had diverse holdings in property, consumer goods and the mining industry.
 
It had invested more than R20m in its operations and created about 50 jobs, excluding its dealer network..