GM plans to increase stakes in Chinese joint venture

Shanghai. January 18 (Gasgoo.com) – General Motors China is in talks with Chinese partner Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation or SAIC over a plan to increase GM's stakes in their joint venture automaker SAIC-GM-Wuling, Shanghai Securities News.

 

The negotiation has been on and off for years and no agreements have been reached so far. "The negotiation is a difficult process and no timetable has been set up so far," said Kevin Wale, general manager of General Motors China Operations.  "We are studying all options on the table."

 

SAIC-GM-Wuling, a leading manufacturer of mini-vehicles, sold 552,788 vehicles in 2007, up 20 percent from one year earlier and the automaker plans to sell 620,000 mini-vehicles in 2008, senior company official said.

 

The three-way automaker has taken 43 percent of China's mini-vehicle market by 2007, while it held only 37 percent of the market one year earlier, Shen Yang, general manager of SAIC-GM-Wuling told a dealership conference.  

 

SAIC-GM-Wuling builds and sells both commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles, including Wuling brand minivans, Wuling brand mini-trucks and the Chevrolet Spark mini-car.

  

SAIC-GM-Wuling was founded in June 2002 by GM China, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. Group (SAIC) and Liuzhou Wuling Automotive Co., Ltd. (Wuling Automotive). SAIC has a 50.1 percent stake, GM China a 34 percent stake and Wuling Automotive a 15.9 percent stake. SAIC-GM-Wuling is based in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous.