Chrysler: no deal signed for making Jeeps in China

US auto giant Chrysler Group has not signed a deal yet with Fiat's Chinese partner Guangzhou Auto to produce Jeeps in China, a Chrysler spokesman said yesterday, in response to the media report of such an agreement, Reuters said.

"There's a lot of interest in the Chinese market, but up to now there's been no deal of this kind signed," the spokesman said.

Italian news agency ANSA reported that Chrysler had signed the deal for Jeeps, quoting Chinese publication Time Weekly. Chinese media said on August 20 that the Jeep Compass will be the first model to be made in the Changsha plant of the new Guangzhou-Fiat joint venture.

Earlier this year, Fiat Group acquired a 20 percent controlling stake in the troubled US auto giant Chrysler and meanwhile signed a JV deal with China's Guangzhou Auto, bringing the two automakers together.

Chrysler dropped out of Daimler AG's Chinese venture with Beijing Auto in late 2008, ending its nearly two decades of partnership with the Chinese automaker.

In recent years, Chrysler has imported many Jeep models to China, such as the Grand Cherokee, Compass and Commander, Wrangler Sahara and Rubicon.