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29-10-2007
FAW
developing 5 engines for own brands Source : China FAW Group Corp. will debut
at least five new engines for passenger vehicles next year.
"The
engines are now under testing and will probably show up in April in the Beijing
auto show," the source says.
The source says FAW developed the new
engines, which will be mounted in FAW's own brand of passenger vehicles in the
coming years.
A major automaker in China, FAW Group has joint ventures
to produce passenger cars with Toyota and Volkswagen. It also makes Mazda cars
under technical cooperation.
FAW is one of many domestic automakers boosting
production of its own brands. The company plans to build a full line of mid-sized,
large and luxury sedans in the coming years under the Hongqi brand.
The
new engines are important because FAW now produces only small engines.
The
source says the two diesel engines are 1.5 and 2.0 liters in displacement. The
three others are gasoline: a small engine of 1.6 liters, a V-12 of 6.0 liters
and a V-6 that may be available in 2.6, 2.8 or 3.0 liters.
The source
says the V-12 gasoline engine will be fitted to the limited Hongqi HQE model that
debuted at the 2005 Shanghai auto show. The source says the model, also called
the HQD, will be used as a state limousine.
But the source says the engines
will not contain gasoline direct injection because FAW will probably not be able
to use it in production vehicles until 2012 to 2015.
Earlier this year,
FAW announced that it had successfully developed gasoline direct injection technology.
In a separate engine development, the source also says FAW will begin
producing three new gasoline engines in its Tianjin engine plant in early 2008.
Construction of the new production lines started in September.
He says
the three engines will be available in 1.1, 1.3 and 1.5 liters. The engines will
be used in inexpensive vehicles produced by a subsidiary of FAW, Tianjin FAW Xiali
Automobile Co., in Tianjin.
Tianjin FAW's engine plant, with an annual
capacity of 150,000, is making three engines with displacement of 1.0, 1.4 and
1.6 liters.
"Annual output capacity of the Tianjin engine plant
is expected to reach 400,000 in 2010," says the source.
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