[科技前沿]通用汽车与一汽组建轻型商用车合资企业

GM Launches Venture To Build Trucks In China

General Motors Co. announced a new joint venture in China to make light-duty trucks as part of an effort to penetrate further into China's vibrant auto market, a key strategic focus for the recently restructured car maker.

GM announced Sunday the 50-50 joint venture with FAW Group Corp., a major Chinese state-owned auto maker. The two companies are making a combined investment of 2 billion yuan ($293 million) for the new company, and will significantly expand FAW's existing light commercial truck business, GM said.

The venture, based in the northeastern Chinese city of Changchun in Jilin province, has two existing assembly plants and is moving to add another, capable of producing 100,000 vehicles a year, by the end of 2010, said GM China President Kevin Wale.

The new plant would push the joint venture's annual capacity to 200,000 trucks -- more than double what it expects to sell this year.

The new venture gives GM's expanding China business a 'very important' foothold in a segment that is 'growing rapidly,' Mr. Wale said in a conference call with reporters.

China's light commercial truck market represents more than 50% of global light commercial vehicle sales and is 'clearly a key focus for future growth for GM,' he said.

Light commercial truck and van producers in China shipped a total of 769,000 vehicles during the first seven months of the year, GM said.

The joint venture comes as part of GM's strategic move to make China a pillar of its global business, establishing a presence in key segments of the country's expanding auto industry and positioning its operations to be an export hub to take advantage of relatively lower costs in China.

'This is an important complement to the rest of our [business] portfolio,' Mr. Wale said. GM's business in China already includes production and sales of passenger cars and micro-minivans with different Chinese partners.

Helped by government stimulus measures this year, including sales-tax cuts on cars, GM's China sales in the January-July period soared 42.8% from the same period last year to 959,035 units.

China is one of a few major markets world-wide that have managed to grow despite the global economic downturn since last year.

The commercial vehicle venture follows a recent move by GM to expand exports of low-cost micro-minivans made in China to additional markets in South America, the Middle East and North Africa.

Mr. Wale said the new venture with FAW also would look at the possibility of exporting light commercial trucks 'over time.'

The venture's two existing plants, which come from FAW, are in northern Heilongjiang province and in the southwestern province of Yunnan and have a combined annual capacity of about 100,000 vehicles.

The venture expects to sell 80,000 to 90,000 vehicles this year, including those already sold by FAW, and is targeting sales of more than 100,000 units next year, Mr. Wale said.

通用汽车(General Motors)宣布在中国组建一家新的轻型商用车合资企业，意在进一步进军中国增长强劲的汽车市场。对近期完成重组的通用汽车来说，中国是一个重要的战略市场。

通用汽车周日宣布与中国主要国有汽车制造商中国第一汽车集团公司(China FAW Group Corp.)组建一家合资企业，双方各持一半股权。通用汽车表示，两家公司将总计向新公司投资人民币20亿元（约合2.93亿美元），显著扩展一汽集团当前的轻型商用卡车业务。

相关管理人士周日出席新公司揭牌仪式通用汽车中国公司总裁甘文维(Kevin Wale)表示，新合资企业的总部位于中国东北吉林省长春市，目前拥有两个组装工厂。另外一个工厂也正在规划建设中，2010年底前将具备10万辆的年产能。

新工厂建成后，合资企业年产能将达到20万辆──是其今年预期销量的两倍以上。

甘文维在与记者召开的电话会议上表示，随着新合资企业的成立，通用汽车中国将在轻型商用车这一迅速增长的市场获得非常重要的立足点。

甘文维表示，中国轻型商用卡车市场占据了全球轻型商用车市场销量的一半以上，显然是通用汽车未来增长的一个重心。

通用汽车表示，今年前七个月，中国轻型商用车厂商总销量达到了76.9万辆。

成立这一合资企业是通用汽车的战略举措之一。通用汽车计划令中国成为其全球业务支柱，在中国不断增长汽车行业的重要领域拥有一席之地，并利用中国相对较低的成本，将中国业务定位成一个出口中心。

甘文维表示，这是对我们其余业务组合的一个重要补充。通用汽车旗下中国业务已经包括了轿车和微型客车的生产和销售，这些都是通用汽车与不同的中国合作伙伴组建的。

在下调汽车销售税等中国政府刺激举措的推动下，今年前七个月，通用汽车中国的销量较上年同期飙升42.8%，至959,035辆。

自去年全球经济开始下滑以来，中国是全球为数不多仍在增长的重要市场之一。

在成立新合资公司之前，通用汽车近期还计划扩大中国生产的低成本微型客车的出口，至南美、中东和北非等市场。

甘文维表示，新合资公司还将逐步寻求出口轻型商用卡车的可能性。

新合资公司现有的两家工厂分别位于黑龙江省和云南省，目前年产能总计10万辆左右。这两家工厂都来自于一汽集团。

甘文维表示，预计合资公司今年销量将达到8万-9万辆，其中包括一汽集团已经实现的销量；计划明年销量突破10万辆。