GM exports would be step up for China automakers

SHANGHAI -- China's auto industry has come a long way since General Motors set up its first factory here in a brand new industrial zone in Shanghai just over a decade ago.

With monthly vehicle sales topping those in the U.S. so far this year, China is now an auto power in its own right -- though foreign joint ventures still dominate.

A reported move by GM to export cars built here to its home market in the U.S. could be just as important to the local industry's own global ambitions as it is for General Motors' survival, industry experts say.

"China is on its way to becoming the world's largest auto manufacturer. It will be nothing out of the ordinary to see cars with a 'made-in-China' label selling in global markets," said Li Chunbo, chief analyst at Citic Securities in Beijing.

Media reports that GM intends to increase sales of cars made outside the U.S., for the first time importing autos made at its Chinese factories with partner SAIC, spell political trouble given GM's reliance on billions of dollars in U.S. government support.

Union leaders have said it is wrong for GM to take taxpayer money to outsource jobs overseas.

GM has said little. Presumably, Chinese-made cars would enable GM to cut costs, and in the hypercompetitive global auto world of crippling labor costs and shrinking profit margins, any advantage counts. American automakers already rely on components made in China to save on costs.

"GM is reviewing various options," its China office said in a written statement. "We are not discussing details of our future portfolio, beyond what we have disclosed in auto shows and our viability plans."

In a presentation GM provided to some congressional offices, the automaker said it plans to import 17,335 vehicles from China to the U.S. in 2011 and 38,351 in 2012. The number of imported vehicles from China is expected to grow to 53,302 in 2013 and 51,546 in 2014.