'Big 3' halt will not affect supplies to China

Shanghai, December 24 (Gasgoo.com) Though the troubled U.S. auto giants GM, Ford and Chrysler have closed down some of their vehicle and auto-parts plants, the Chinese ventures and agencies of the Big 3 said that the production halts in North America will not affect their components supply and auto export to China, state media reported today.

A PR executive of Shanghai GM said that vehicle models made by this joint venture are highly localized and only use a small number of auto parts imported from the United States. The U.S. inventories of these components are sufficient to supply for Shanghai GM's manufacturing. The GM imports to China can be guaranteed as well because their China sales are not great and the U.S. market demand is sliding.

SAIC-GM-Wuling, another Chinese venture of GM, purchases most of its auto parts domestically and will not be affected by the GM production halt in the U.S, either, added the executive.

Changan Ford Mazda is making several Ford models (such as Ford Focus and Mondeo) developed by Ford Europe, and the components imported for building these models are made by Ford factories in Europe. The joint venture in southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing is set to produce the new-generation Ford Fiesta sedan model next year and there is no problem for the auto-parts import.

Chrysler has no joint venture in China now but sells its imported or locally assembled cars in the Chinese market. An executive of Chrysler China said that its business is going on as usual, not influenced by the U.S. production halt. Chrysler sells only more than 20,000 vehicles in China and the U.S. inventory can meet the Chinese market demand.

An industry expert noted that the U.S. Big 3 automakers look to China as their most important emerging market in the world. As their China operations and business are profitable, they will manage to ensure the supplies of their components and vehicles to China.