GM Eyes Acquisitions in China

General Motors Co. is interested in buying smaller carmakers in China to help achieve its goal of selling 5 million vehicles there by 2015, Bloomberg News reports. The company sold 2.8 million units in China last year.

The news service cites unidentified sources who say GM and Chinese partner SAIC Motor Corp. seek to benefit from the government's desire to consolidate the fragmented domestic auto industry.

Instead of fighting to win Beijing's approval for new plants, the companies could acquire existing facilities. About 36% of China's auto capacity is unused the equivalent of 10 million vehicles, according to LMC Automotive.

GM declares it has no current plans to boost Chinese capacity through acquisition or consolidation. But the company said last month it is exploring ways to expand its Chinese output beyond the opening of two assembly plants next year. Those facilities will boost GM-SAIC annual capacity to about 4 million vehicles well short of the target set in 2011.

Separately, GM reports that it sold 310,800 vehicles in China last month, up 26% from January 2012.