The FAW Bus Co. Ltd., a bus subsidiary of FAW Group, plans to build a bus manufacturing base in Changchun, headquarters of FAW. Construction of the project will kick off in April 2009 and operation is scheduled for October next year, said xinhuanet.com today.
The techniques for the bus production in this base have been determined. Urban buses with a length of 12 meters or 18 meters will be manufactured in the Changchun facility of FAW Bus. The new manufacturing base will specialize in the production of 8-meter-long bus chassis to compete with the industry rivals in the 6- to 8-meter-long chassis product lineup and become a first-class chassis production base in China.

According to the company's current five-year plan, FAW Bus aims to sell 15,000 complete buses annually by 2013, with 3,000 units of them for export, and to gain a 5.76% market share. The company expects to become the fifth largest bus maker in China.

In addition to its urban buses, the company will also start producing its highway buses in 2009.