CHINA - Renault plans a massive investment in China to build upwards of 800,000 units per year.

Renault will make "massive investments" in China where it sees its market share rising as high as 6 percent after the company ramps up sales of locally-built vehicles in the world's biggest car market.

Renault has lagged rivals such as Volkswagen and PSA/Peugeot-Citroen in expanding in China, relying on strong sales of its popular small cars in Europe and other emerging markets to help it cope in a shaky global economy.

Renault sold just 34,000 cars in China last year, compared with PSA's 734,000 sales, but the company believes that will change once it starts selling vehicles next year through a joint venture with China's Dongfeng Motor.

"In China, we will have a minimum of 3 percent and very likely 6 percent of the market," Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn told reporters on Monday. "That's a lot of cars, and that means you can expect a massive investment program in China in the coming years," he added, declining to give figures.

Renault is building a Chinese factory in Wuhan with an initial production capacity of 100,000 vehicles, with the aim of ramping up output to more than 500,000 cars.

The company says it is on target to launch its first locally manufactured vehicle in China, a compact crossover, in 2016. "Construction of the facility has been completed, and the assembly lines are currently being installed," Renault said in a statement last month.

Ghosn said in October that the automaker could sell up to 800,000 vehicles a year in China including imported and locally built cars.

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CHINA - Hyundai is so successful in China, it intends to build its fourth and fifth plant there.

• Each Plant to have annual production capacity of 300,000 units
• New plants will increase Beijing Hyundai Motor Co.’s capacity to 1.65 million units per year by 2018

Beijing Hyundai Motor Company (BHMC), a 50-50 joint venture between Hyundai Motor Company and Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co., today said it would begin building its fourth and fifth plants in China next year to respond to surging demands in the world’s largest automobile market.

BHMC will build its fourth plant in Cangzhou, Hebei province, and its fifth plant in Chongqing, with an annual production capacity of 300,000 units per plant. With the completion of the two plants by 2018, BHMC will have the capability to produce up to 1.65 million cars per year in China.

BHMC plans to open the fourth plant with an initial annual capacity of 200,000 units in the second half of 2016, and later add capacity to reach the expected 300,000 units per year. The plant in Hebei will be built on a 2.095 million square metre site with a floor space of 221,000 square metres, featuring vehicle production facilities such as stamping, welding, painting, assembly and module lines.

Construction of its fifth plant in Chongqing will begin in the third quarter of 2015 and once completed, it will also have an annual capacity of 300,000 units.  Built on a 2 million square metre site, the plant will have 274,000 square metres of floor space, featuring complete vehicle and engine production facilities. Small and mid-size models specifically designed for the Chinese market will be rolled out from the plant, starting from the first half of 2017.

Hyundai established BHMC in 2002, opening its first plant in China. It added a second factory in 2008, doubling its annual production capacity to 600,000 units. In 2012, with the addition of the third plant, the total annual production capacity reached more than 1 million units per year. The new plants are expected to further reinforce the company’s presence as a leading automaker in the Chinese market.