MILAN In conjunction with the official inauguration of the GAC Fiat plant, production activities were officially kicked off at a new Magneti Marelli plant in Changsha, capital of the Hunan province. This new plant will supply exhaust systems to GAC Fiat, which is a 50/50 joint venture between Fiat and GAC, China’s sixth largest manufacturer of automobiles, buses and industrial vehicles.
The new facilities are located in the Supplier Park of GAC Fiat, in the Economic & Technical Development Zone of Changsha. At full capacity, the plant will employ 200 workers and will be able to produce up to 300,000 systems per year.
The Changsha facilities also will supply the exhaust systems for the Fiat Viaggio on site, soon to be sold in the Chinese market. For this automobile, Magneti Marelli supplies other high-tech components including lighting, powertrain, electronic systems, exhaust systems and suspension
systems.
Magneti Marelli has been operating in China since 1996 with production plants and R&D/engineering centers in Shanghai (for Powertrain products and Exhaust Systems), Wuhu (Powertrain and Automotive Lighting products), Guangzhou (Electronic Systems), Hangzhou (shock absorbers in JV with Wanxiang Qianchao Company) and in the Chaoyang economic and industrial district of the city of Changchun (JV with FUDI for powertrain components).