Chinese Truck Maker Dongfeng To Produce Trucks in Serbia - Serbian Govt

FAP, which is wholly-owned by the state, must be upgraded before the Chinese partner starts to assemble trucks there, Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic said in a statement posted on the government’s web site late on Monday.

He added that the Serbian government will provide up to 1.0 million euro for the upgrades.

Dongfeng and FAP plan to produce 51% of the truck parts in Serbia and export the assembled trucks to markets with which Serbia has free trade agreements, Dinkic said in the statement, adding that the first truck assembly may be expected as early as next year.

A Serbian government tender for the sale of 86.5% of FAP failed in May because the sole bidder, Ukrainian bus maker Lvivsky Avtobusni Zavody (LAZ), failed to meet the tender requirements.

The company, set up in 1952, manufactures trucks and special purpose motor vehicles. It ended 2008 with a net profit of 142 million dinars ($2.2 million/1.5 million euro), compared to a net loss of 4.4 million dinars a year earlier, data from the country’s business registry showed.

Dongfeng Motor Corporation (www.dfmc.com.cn), formerly named Second Automobile Works Co., produces passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, engines, auto parts and components, and equipment.

(1 euro=94.4120 Serbian dinars)