The new JV is based on reorganization of Guangzhou Yangcheng Automobile Co., Ltd. (a company invested in by Guangzhou Automobile Group) and Shenyang Shenfei Hino Automobile Manufacturing Co., (a company invested in by Hino). Guangqi Hino will continue to produce Yangcheng Automobile’s existing products at its present factory, and is constructing a new factory in Conghua, Guangzhou city, with plans to commence production in the middle of 2009.

Guangzhou Automobile Group directly or indirectly holds equity in several companies including Guangzhou Honda Automobile, Guangzhou Toyota Motor, Honda Automobile (China) and Guangqi Toyota Engine and manufactures passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, car engines and major automobile parts.

After forming a business tie-up with Toyota Motor Corporation in 1966, Hino became a subsidiary of Toyota in 2001 and is Toyota Group’s commercial vehicle manufacturer. In addition to its main products, which are trucks and buses, as well as various engines and parts, Hino manufactures Toyota brand vehicles, and has an output of about 200,000 units per year. Hino has maintained the top share in the heavy and medium-duty truck market in Japan for 34 years consecutively. Hino exports about 1,500 heavy-duty trucks to China per year.