China's second-biggest auto group Dongfeng Motor Corp plans to invest heavily in its newly restructured passenger vehicle brand over the next couple of years.

The partner of PSA Peugeot Citroen, Nissan, Honda and Kia said it will spend 15.65 billion yuan in research and development on its own passenger vehicle unit from 2013 to 2020.

The company based in the central China city of Wuhan aims to double annual sales of its own-brand passenger vehicles to 1 million units by 2016, it said during the ongoing Shanghai auto show. Sales of its own-brand passenger vehicles jumped by 27.29 percent last year to 515,200 units.