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Weichai Power Co Ltd, one of the largest diesel engine makers in China, agreed to buy the remaining 71.88 percent of Torch Automobile Group Co Ltd shares to obtain complete stake control of the company, said Weichai yesterday.

 

The deal was subject to approval by shareholders and China's regulatory body, it said in a statement.

 

Weichai will seek shareholder approval at a general meeting to be held on December 29. Torch Automobile will hold a shareholders meeting on January 8.

 

The Hong Kong-listed Weichai said earlier it planned to list its A-shares on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange after it privatises Torch Automobile.

 

In 2005 it bought stake in Torch Automobile and became one of the biggest shareholders in the firm.

 

"The deal will help Weichai to streamline the company structure," said Zhang Xin, an analyst with Guotai Junan Securities.

 

"It will enhance the company's position in the auto parts market as well as in the heavy-duty truck market," he added.

 

As a major Chinese automaker, Torch Automobile owns 51 percent of Shaanxi Heavy-Duty Motor Co Ltd, one of the five largest heavy-duty truck makers in China.

 

Weichai, which used to produce engines for heavy-duty vehicles, was on the brink of bankruptcy in the mid-1990s when China's heavy-duty vehicle market was experiencing a slump.

 

But the company quickly recovered after adjusting its business strategy, reinforcing technological innovation, and reforming its corporate management.

 

In October, Weichai launched its new high-speed diesel engine, the WD12, which is China's first 12-litre 480 horsepower engine with independent intellectual property rights.

 

This year it also signed a strategic co-operation agreement with the German industrial giant Bosch on development and supply of a high-speed diesel engine.

 

The booming Chinese auto parts market has attracted more and more domestic and foreign companies.

 

In October, the world's biggest diesel engine maker Cummins clinched a deal with Chinese truck producer Beiqi Foton Motor to create an engine joint venture in Beijing.

 

The two sides plan to invest a total of 2.5 billion yuan (US$316 million) in the joint venture, which has registered capital of 1 billion yuan (US$126 million), said Cummins.

 

The venture, which will start to make Cummins 2.8 and 3.8-litre diesel engines in 2008, will have an annual production capacity of 40,000 engines, according to the US engine group.

 

The project is part of Cummins' plan to increase its investments in China by US$300 million by 2010 in order to boost local sales.

 

According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, both China's production and sales of automobiles are expected to surpass 7 million this year.

 

The association made the prediction based on the country's automobile production and sales situation in the first 10 months of this year, which hit 5.89 and 5.77 million autos. That was a 27.56 and 25.69 percent jump respectively from the same period in 2005.

 

In October alone, China produced 588,800 automobiles, up 41.43 percent from October last year. Sales totalled 576,300 autos, an increase of 27.55 percent, said the association.

 

But statistics show that China's auto industry still lags behind that of developed countries in R&D innovation, brand building, enterprise size and profits on exports.

 

China's auto exports accounted for merely 1.1 percent of the world's auto trade volume and 7.3 percent of the nation's auto industry value in 2005, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

 

Developed countries such as Japan and Germany sold over 40 percent of their auto products overseas.

 

Technology and emission standards as well as safety regulations in developed countries have been big problems for Chinese auto exports.

 

(China Daily November 14, 2006)