FAW Group Corporation announced Friday the opening of a joint venture automobile production plant in Mexico. FAW will be the first Chinese automaker entering into the fast growing Mexican automobile market. The new factory, located in Mexico’s western Michoacan state and co-invested US $150 million by FAW Group and Grupo Elektra SAB, will begin its operation in 2010 with an annual capacity of 100,000 cars.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held on site on Nov. 23. Attendees to the ceremony included Mexico president Felipe Calderon, Grupo Salinas president Ricardo B. Salinas, FAW Group Corporation president Zhu Yanfeng, Tianjin FAW Xiali Automobile Division general manager Wang Gang and other honorable guests.

After the production facility put into operation the JV will produce Tianjin FAW Xiali Automobile Division’s economical cars named Xiali and Vita, which will be sold to the Mexican market.

Grupo Elektra is Latin America's leading specialty retailer, consumer finance and banking services company. The Group operates more than 1,700 points of sale in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, Panama, El Salvador and Argentina. Grupo Elektra also sells and markets its consumer finance, banking and financial products and services through Banco Azteca branches located in Mexico, Panama, Guatemala and Honduras. Grupo Elektra is a member company of Grupo Salinas, a group of dynamic, fast-growing, and technologically advanced companies focused on creating shareholder value, building the middle class of the countries in which it operates, and improving society through excellence.

FAW Group is a leading global manufacturer of quality passenger cars, trucks, and buses. Established in 1953, the company is China’s oldest and largest automotive group. Annual sales exceed one million units.