Volkswagen AG will take over a former Fiat SpA plant in Nanjing after the Italian auto maker quit making cars there last year.

A ceremony will be held on April 18 to unveil the factory, Zhang Wenjing, a spokeswoman for Shanghai Volkswagen Co, told Bloomberg News by phone yesterday. Shanghai Volkswagen, a venture between the German auto maker and SAIC Motor Corp, will make the Santana Vista model at the factory, Zhang added.

Volkswagen aims to sell 1 million cars in China this year, straining its capacity, Winfried Vahland, president of the company's China unit said in October. The ex-Fiat plant was taken over by SAIC after it agreed to buy all of Nanjing Auto's auto-making assets last year. Volkswagen boosted China sales 32 percent in the first quarter after adding the Santana Vista.

The company sold 103,200 vehicles in China in March, the first time it has sold more than 100,000 cars in a single month in the country.

(Shanghai Daily April 10, 2008)