Volvo Cars has started production of their XC60 crossover at its plant in Chengdu, expanding its production in China after an increase in sales.
Adding the XC60 to the Chengdu production line means that the plant will be adding 500 new manufacturing jobs, bringing the total headcount in the plant to around 2,650 employees. A new working time system will secure the required increase in output.
The XC60 is the best-selling Volvo model globally and in China. Globally, XC60 sales have increased 20.4 per cent to 98,309 cars in the first nine months of 2014, while sales in China are up 32.3 per cent to 24,940 cars over the same period. Earlier this year, the XC60 passed the 500,000 cars sold mark since it was launched in 2008.
“The start of XC60 production in Chengdu is the latest milestone in Volvo Cars’ transformation,” said Håkan Samuelsson, President and CEO of Volvo Cars in a press release from Volvo. “It will be instrumental in boosting Volvo’s overall growth in what is now our largest market.”
The Chengdu plant is located in the Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone in central China. Annual production capacity of the plant is 120,000 cars. Volvo Cars also has a plant in Daqing, northeast China, where assembly has started of the Volvo XC Classic, a locally-built variant of the first-generation Volvo XC90 for the Chinese market. Furthermore, Volvo Cars operates an engine plant in Zhangjiakou, northwest of Beijing, which has been operational since the autumn of 2013 and supplies engines to Chengdu and Daqing.
