VW, Mobvoi start joint venture

Volkswagen Group China will invest $180 million to build a 50:50 joint venture with Chinese artificial intelligence company Mobvoi Inc, according to a deal the two signed on March 30. The new joint venture will develop products for a wide range of Volkswagen Group models as well as other brands. Initial products will include Mobvoi's existing smart rearview mirror, which provides navigation, points of interest search, instant messaging and on-board infotainment via voice input. The partnership with Mobvoi is the latest in a series of cooperative initiatives formed by Volkswagen Group China in the past 12 months under its Strategy 2025.

Valeo opens Hubei technical center

French automotive supplier Valeo Group opened a research and development facility in Wuhan, Hubei province, on April 5. The facility, with a staff of some 450 researchers, comprises two centers, one on lighting technology and the other on comfort and driving assistance systems. Valeo said the technical center will help it to take root in China and to better serve global markets. Valeo Group Chairman and CEO Jacques Aschenbroich said China, as the world's largest auto market, is a priority for the group's future development. In 2016, Valeo sales went up 14 percent to 16.5 billion euros ($17.5 billion).

PSA to open facility in Algeria this year

French carmaker PSA will open a plant in Algeria this year, the North African country's prime minister said at a press conference on Thursday. Abdelmalek Sellal said Algeria hopes to produce vehicles for the local market and for possible export. The expected deal was reportedly close to having been signed already when former French premier Manuel Valls visited Algeria last year. Once one of Africa's biggest car markets, Algeria is embarking on an ambitious program aimed at replacing hundreds of thousands of foreign imports with domestically produced models. In November last year, Volkswagen signed an agreement for the construction of a vehicle assembly plant in Algeria, becoming the second car manufacturer to establish an assembly plant in the country, after France's Renault inaugurated a multi-million-euro plant in 2014.

Motoring - Agencies

(China Daily 04/10/2017 page18)