GM says new plant needed for China sales goal

General Motors Corp. would need to build another car-assembly plant in China to meet its goal of doubling its annual sales in the country to two million vehicles in five years, a senior executive said Wednesday.
 
"We're pretty well-placed to do a lot of growth at the moment without having to spend a lot of money," Kevin Wale, head of GM China Group, said in an interview. "We would probably need at most one new facility to get to two million units."
 
Mr. Wale gave no indication that GM is already planning an additional factory in China. He said most of the U.S. auto maker's existing plants in China have been designed and built with flexibility for expansion, and that GM will try to squeeze more production capacity out of those existing plants.
 
GM, which is surviving on government loans at home, said last week it hopes to increase its annual China sales in five years. Last year, its sales in China rose 6% to 1,094,561 vehicles, including sales of microminivans made with Wuling Automobile Co., one of its Chinese partners. The U.S. auto maker said at the time that it will expand its production capacity in China as well as its product portfolio. It plans to add 30 new models in China over the next five years, a spokeswoman said.
 
GM in December opened a new passenger-vehicle plant in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang. That plant, the fifth one that GM runs with main Chinese joint-venture partner SAIC Motor Corp., has begun increasing production of the Chevrolet Cruze, the first compact sedan for the Chevy franchise in China. GM said the new car should arrive in dealer showrooms during the second quarter of this year.
 
GM also has two additional plants run by a separate, three-way venture GM jointly operates with SAIC and Wuling. That company produces and markets microminivans.
From: WSJ

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