Chinese automaker Chery aims to enhance its production and presence in the Brazilian market this year, China’s state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

The agency quoted Peng Jian, Chery’s President for Brazil, saying the company aimed to produce 10,000 vehicles in its US$500-million factory in the country. The facility was launched in August 2014.

“Chery is working hard to offer new options for Brazilian consumers,” Mr Peng said, adding that customers in the South American nation were not yet fully familiar with Chinese vehicle brands.

Xinhua reported Chery’s expansion plans come at a time when the Brazilian auto industry “is facing a crisis”. Vehicle sales dropped 23.9 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2015.

Nonetheless the company will also invest US$700 million to build a 4.5-square-kilometre industrial park near its factory in Jacarei, a town in São Paulo State. The site will have warehouses, as well as logistics and maintenance facilities and accommodation for component makers. The industrial park would help make Chery’s cars more affordable to Brazilian consumers, Mr Peng added.

The site will create as many as 7,000 jobs in Jacarei in the next few years, Chinese state-run newspaper China Daily reported.