Chery, JLR joint venture gets gov't approval

A proposed automobile joint venture between China's Chery Auto and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has been approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, Chery Auto said Monday.

The approval came about six months after Chery announced the 12-billion-yuan (1.89 billion U.S. dollars) venture with JLR in March, although most similar joint ventures normally take a year to get approval.

A spokesman for Chery Auto said the process was short because Chery was familiar with the approval procedure and did not waste time. He said the new company will be registered as soon as possible.

The joint venture's new automobile plant, located in the city of Changshu near Shanghai, is expected to be made up of an assembly line, an engine factory and a research center, according to the agreement.

The plant, scheduled to go into operation in 2014, will be able to produce 130,000 units a year -- mostly Land Rover and Jaguar vehicles, but also joint venture brands.

Sales of JLR cars reached 53,000 units in the Chinese market in the first nine months of the year, up 80 percent from a year earlier, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Chery, which has been successful in the domestic low-end market, saw its sales drop by 11.5 percent to 412,500 units in the first nine months of the year.