SAIC-GM-Wuling Opens Car Plant in China

Three-way joint venture SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co. (SGMW) began building the Baojun 630 midsize sedan on Sunday at its new 8 billion-yuan ($1.3 billion) factory.

The plant in Liuzhou in northern China has annual capacity of 400,000 vehicles.

The partnership between Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., General Motors Co. and Liuzhou Wuling Motors also Is erecting a nearby engine facility. The factory, which is scheduled to open next September, will have annual capacity of 400,000 engines.

The 10-year-old venture produced only mini trucks and minivans under the Wuling brand until August 2011, when the 630 debuted. The new China-specific Baojun marque is aimed at first-time car buyers in smaller cities in China's interior.

Earlier this year the partners introduced the brand's Le Chi minicar, a version of the Chevrolet Spark.

SGMW needs to expand its passenger car business to achieve its goal of boosting sales to 2 million vehicles by 2015 from 1.29 million last year. The venture sold 21,800 Baojun cars in 2011.