[科技前沿]通用汽車與一汽組建輕型商用車合資企業

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.

通用汽車(General Motors)宣佈在中國組建一家新的輕型商用車合資企業，意在進一步進軍中國增長強勁的汽車市場。對近期完成重組的通用汽車來說，中國是一個重要的戰略市場。

通用汽車週日宣佈與中國主要國有汽車製造商中國第一汽車集團公司(China FAW Group Corp.)組建一家合資企業，雙方各持一半股權。通用汽車表示，兩家公司將總計向新公司投資人民幣20億元（約合2.93億美元），顯著擴展一汽集團當前的輕型商用卡車業務。

相關管理人士週日出席新公司揭牌儀式通用汽車中國公司總裁甘文維(Kevin Wale)表示，新合資企業的總部位於中國東北吉林省長春市，目前擁有兩個組裝工廠。另外一個工廠也正在規劃建設中，2010年底前將具備10萬輛的年產能。

新工廠建成後，合資企業年產能將達到20萬輛──是其今年預期銷量的兩倍以上。

甘文維在與記者召開的電話會議上表示，隨着新合資企業的成立，通用汽車中國將在輕型商用車這一迅速增長的市場獲得非常重要的立足點。

甘文維表示，中國輕型商用卡車市場佔據了全球輕型商用車市場銷量的一半以上，顯然是通用汽車未來增長的一個重心。

通用汽車表示，今年前七個月，中國輕型商用車廠商總銷量達到了76.9萬輛。

成立這一合資企業是通用汽車的戰略舉措之一。通用汽車計劃令中國成爲其全球業務支柱，在中國不斷增長汽車行業的重要領域擁有一席之地，並利用中國相對較低的成本，將中國業務定位成一個出口中心。

甘文維表示，這是對我們其餘業務組合的一個重要補充。通用汽車旗下中國業務已經包括了轎車和微型客車的生產和銷售，這些都是通用汽車與不同的中國合作伙伴組建的。

在下調汽車銷售稅等中國政府刺激舉措的推動下，今年前七個月，通用汽車中國的銷量較上年同期飆升42.8%，至959,035輛。

自去年全球經濟開始下滑以來，中國是全球爲數不多仍在增長的重要市場之一。

在成立新合資公司之前，通用汽車近期還計劃擴大中國生產的低成本微型客車的出口，至南美、中東和北非等市場。

甘文維表示，新合資公司還將逐步尋求出口輕型商用卡車的可能性。

新合資公司現有的兩家工廠分別位於黑龍江省和雲南省，目前年產能總計10萬輛左右。這兩家工廠都來自於一汽集團。

甘文維表示，預計合資公司今年銷量將達到8萬-9萬輛，其中包括一汽集團已經實現的銷量；計劃明年銷量突破10萬輛。