BEIJING -- 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...
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.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123979346116820629.htmlRussia: General Motors Opens New Plant; Will Build SUVs and New Chevy Cruze
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Amid the gloom and doom of the economic meltdown that has seen auto sales plummet worldwide, the opening of General Motors' new $300 million plant, declared open on Friday here, is a rare bright spot.
The new plant will produce GM SUVs, the Chevrolet Captiva and Opel Antara, which have become status symbols in Russia. Starting in June 2009, the company will also start production of its new Chevrolet Cruze sedan, which was showcased at the 2008 Moscow Auto Show in September.
Buoyed by spiraling sales in this fast-growing auto market, GM started construction on the Shushary plant in June 2006. Last year, GM announced plans to nearly double its investment to $300 million and expanded production capacity to 70,000 vehicles from 40,000, citing "high demand for Chevrolet in Europe." The new plant will employ 1,700 workers who will produce 75,000 vehicles per year to start — which could balloon to 210,000 if demand is sufficient, officials said.
Chevrolet is the sales champion in Russia, with 190,553 cars sold last year alone, allowing GM to claim a 10.9 percent market share here. Likewise, Opel is in Russia's top 10 in sales, recording a whopping 238 percent sales growth in 2007, according to GM figures.
Since establishing itself in Russia in 1992, GM has grown to produce about 100,000 vehicles per year at plants across Russia....With operations in more than 50 cities, GM has been doing impressively well in the local auto market, analysts said. The company sold 259,000 vehicles in 2007, a 95 percent increase over the 132,600 it sold in 2006, increasing its market share to 9.5 percent from 6.6 percent a year earlier. Sales grew to 256,765 vehicles in the first nine months of 2008, according to figures released by the company...
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=135571GM Argentina Says It Is Solid, Unaffected By Bankruptcy In US
GM Argentina President Edgar Lourencon told local media Monday that the company's operations in Argentina and Brazil accounted for 60% of the $1.3 billion in profit generated by the company's Latin American units last year.
"GM Argentina maintains its commitment to invest in the country, developing a new compact regional model in our Rosario industrial plant whose production will begin towards the end of 2009," the company said.
In 2007, then GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner announced plans to invest $500 million in Latin America. The plan called for investing $400 million to develop the new product line, which would be sold in Latin America and exported to other emerging market countries.
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez is expected to announce that the government will provide around $55 million in funding to help GM develop a new small vehicle...
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200906021431DOWJONESDJONLINE000528_FORTUNE5.htmGM Brazil having profitable '09, keeps investments
* Brazil, China seen as top priorities for GM
* GM Brazil unit has profitable 2009, after best ever 2008 (Recasts, adds priorities, sales forecasts)
By Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Alberto Alerigi Jr.
SAO CAETANO DO SUL, Brazil, June 2 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp (GMGMQ.PK) will push on with a massive investment plan in South America as the bankrupt automaker bets on expansion in up-and-coming emerging markets like Brazil, the top executive for the region said on Tuesday.
The $2.5 billion investment plan spanning 2007 through 2012 in the Mercosur region that includes Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay has been nearly all funded, said Jaime Ardila, GM's chief executive in the region.
The spending is focused on technology upgrades, plant expansions and developing new vehicle models.
The company still needs to secure $1 billion of the total investments, Ardila said. The Brazil and Mercosur unit has enough cash on hand to fund the plan but it may also seek loans from banks, he said.
"If we let banks participate in the financing, that's a future decision; but for the time being we have the necessary cash to fund our plans," Ardila said.
BEST-EVER PERFORMANCE
GM had its best-ever year in Brazil in 2008 and is also posting a profit so far in 2009, he said. Brazil sales in May rose 2 percent from a year earlier and surged 17 percent from April 2009, signaling GM's bankruptcy filing in the United States hasn't hindered its position in Brazil, Ardila said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSN0246735320090602What don't people get about DELIBERATE DISINVESTMENT?