French auto maker Peugeot Citroen kicked off construction of a massive factory in the inland Chinese city of Wuhan. Combined with the output of an existing plant in Wuhan, Peugeot will eventually be able to produce 450,000 autos a year. The existing factory in Wuhan is running on three shifts 24 hours a day. The Wuhan manufacturing facilities will  also be one of its biggest anywhere, comparable to its plants in France, it is a 50-50 joint venture with state-owned Dongfeng Motor Co.

China's passenger car sales rose 26.4 percent in the first nine months of the year to 3.59 million units, according to data from the Union of National Passenger Cars Market Information. Shanghai GM, General Motors' joint venture in China's largest city, saw sales shoot up 33.4 percent in the first nine months from a year earlier to 296,658 units. Daimler-Chrysler opened a new factory in Beijing in September, giving the US-Germany carmaker and its Chinese joint venture partner a reported initial capacity of 100,000 sedans a year. In July, Japan's Toyota Motor, the world's second largest automaker, said it would double the production capacity of its plant in south China's Guangzhou city to meet fast-growing local demand.