The Dragon takes on the (Fiat) Panda

Chinese car manufacturer Jiangling Motors Corporation (JMC) will invest $1.2 (zł.2.79) billion in a car factory in Poland,Rzeczpospolita reported last week. The news was confirmed by China Knowledge, a Chinese news service.

"Of course, [the brand] cannot be compared to BMW or Volkswagen, but for a small price you will be able to buy one heck of a car," Peter Bijvelds, president of Landwind Motor Corporation, JMC's European distributor, told Rzeczpospolita.

JMC's investment will result in the first Chinese car factory in Europe. Its planned annual production, 400,000 cars, will eclipse that of the largest manufacturer currently active in Poland, Fiat Auto Poland, which produced nearly 362,000 vehicles last year. Representatives of the company are holding negotiations with Polish officials this month concerning the details of the investment.

The Chinese manufacturer's decision is good news for the Polish car industry, according to Wojciech Drzewiecki, president of the Automotive Market Research Institute Samar. He added that the quality of Polish manufacturing was high and that the initiative could be profitable if quality components were used.

"There is potential for Chinese-car production and sales in Europe, both Western and Eastern," Drzewiecki said. He added that Jiangling's investment was all the more beneficial for the Polish market after it lost out to Hungary this year in a bid for a Daimler-Benz Mercedes factory.

The relatively poor reputation that Chinese cars have does not overshadow Jiangling's investment, Drzewiecki said. "The perception of Chinese cars will change just as it did in the case of Korean and Japanese vehicles. Chinese manufacturers are developing very quickly and learning from the mistakes of the past," Drzewiecki added.