Beijing Benz-DaimlerChrysler Automotive Corporation, a Sino-German joint venture, announced that Mercedes-Benz E-class sedans manufactured in Beijing were on sale as of Thursday and they were accepting orders beginning the same day.

On sale are E280 and E200K sedans, and retail prices are 620,000 yuan (76,449 U.S. dollars) and 525,000 yuan (64,735 U.S. dollars) each, respectively, said An Qingheng, chairman of the board of the joint venture.

Beijing Benz-DaimlerChrysler is a new joint venture of DaimlerChrysler and Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Company (BAIC). The joint venture has built a new plant in the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone at Yizhuang, southern Beijing.

DaimlerChrysler and BAIC each have a 50 percent stake in the joint venture, with a cooperation term of 30 years. The joint venture, which has a registered capital of 400 million U.S. dollar, is responsible for production of Mercedes-Benz E- and C-Class sedans in China.

Production in the new plant began in mid-2005.

An predicted 900 Mercedes-Benz E-Class cars would be sold by the end of the year, and the volume of sale would amount to 500 million yuan (61.65 million US dollars).

Source: Xinhua