DONGFENG MOTOR INTERESTED IN SERBIAN TRUCK AND BUS MAKER FAP
A technical team from the Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor Corp has visited Serbian truck and bus producer FAP recently to look into the technical capabilities of the Priboj-based company, local media reported yesterday. The Priboj Automobile Factory (FAP), located in southwestern Serbia, expects a letter of intention from Dongfeng Motor after the visit regarding interest in privatizing the company and a decision for investing in its production, said FAP General Director Mirko Stojović.
Meanwhile this letter of intent has been signed, leading in the end to the production of truck in the FAP plant, and the possible import of Dongfeng buses in Serbia.
Dongfeng Motor Corp, China's third-largest automaker, announced the possibility that FAP will begin producing two types of Dongfeng trucks, which would be assembled and sold in the former Yugoslavia and extended region.
"Interest in the purchase of FAP was also shown by potential buyers from Turkey, Syria and Russia, but the Privatization Agency will not announce a third tender until it receives a letter of intention and guarantees that a serious buyer has arrived," Stojović said.
FAP has closed 40 contracts to produce over 200 trucks which will be sold to buyers for subsidized prices. The 100 government-subsidized trucks will be delivered by the end of the year, and 50 trucks will be delivered monthly next year. Till now FAP built vehicles based on Mercedes-Benz licences. For Dongfeng this will be the second important deal in a short time, the company recently signed a contract to export its vehicles to South Korea. A one-ton truck, a commercial minivan, and six- and nine-passenger minibuses will go on sale in the Korean market starting in April 2010.
