Chinese Auto Maker Produces One Millionth Mini-VanA gold colored mini-van named " Chang'an Star", the one millionth mini-vehicle produced by the Chang'an Automobile Group Company, rolled off the production line Saturday in Chongqing, the most important industrial city on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.The Chang'an Company used to produce military products. It started to manufacture civilian goods, mostly mini-vans and mini- cars in the early 1980s and the first group of mini-vehicles made by the company were put onto the market in 1984. The Chongqing-based group company currently has five automobile making plants located in other districts of Chongqing, Nanjing in Jiangsu Province, and Hebei Province in addition to the automobile manufacturing workshop based at the headquarters of the group company. The group has a combined annual production capacity 250, 000 mini-vehicles and 240,000 engines. In the first six months of the year, the company accomplished 5. 878 billion yuan (about 708.2 million U.S. dollars) in total industrial output value and realized 5.057 billion yuan (about 609. 3 million U.S. dollars) in sales revenue, up 17.44 and 25 percent from the same period last year. With key support from the Chongqing Municipal Government, the Chang'an Company expects to exceed 11 billion yuan (about 1.33 billion U.S. dollars) in sales revenue this year, said a corporate executive with the Chang'an Group Company. |
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