Products Automobiles | Area served China Website saic-gm.com Founded 12 June 1997 | |
Type Privately held joint venture Subsidiaries Shanghai GM Dong Yue Automotive Powertrain Co. Ltd. | ||
SAIC General Motors Corporation Limited (More commonly known as SAIC-GM; Chinese: 上汽通用汽车; formerly known as Shanghai General Motors Company Ltd, Shanghai GM; Chinese: 上海通用汽车) is a joint venture between General Motors Company and SAIC Motor that manufactures and sells Chevrolet, Buick, and Cadillac brand automobiles in mainland China. SAIC-GM was founded on June 12, 1997 with 50% investment each from each partner. SAIC-GM began assembling the venture's first vehicle, the Buick Regal, in Shanghai, China in 1999.
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History
In 2003, China became the second largest single market for General Motors, selling 201,188 vehicles, an 81.6% percent increase over the previous year. In that year SAIC-GM achieved a 13% market share in mainland China, second only to Volkswagen Group China among foreign carmakers. Sales dropped in 2004 when the company retired the Buick Sail and the release of its replacement, the Chevrolet Sail, was delayed to February, 2005, knocking General Motors Shanghai to seventh place in mainland China market share. SAIC-GM market share climbed back to nearly 9.8 percent, placing SAIC-GM among the top three passenger car manufacturers in mainland China.
In May 2005 SAIC-GM completed construction of a new assembly plant, the South Plant, at its facility in eastern Shanghai's Pudong district, more than doubling its annual production capacity to 320,000 vehicles.
SAIC-GM was the top passenger vehicle producer in China in 2006, with sales of 413,400 vehicles. In 2011, SAIC-GM sold 1,200,355 vehicles in the Chinese market. SAIC-GM is the largest joint venture GM has in China.
In September 2006, General Motors launched the Chevrolet Corsa Plus in Chile, a version of the 4-door Opel Corsa with a 1.6L engine, making it the first export market to receive a vehicle manufactured by SAIC-GM.
In February 2010, SAIC acquired an additional 1 percent stake in the joint venture for US$85 million and assistance in securing a US$400 million line of credit to boost SAIC's total share of SAIC-GM to 51%.
In April 2012, GM regained 50% control of the joint venture.