Shanghai GM Breaks Ground On New Cadillac Plant In China

Wednesday June 19th, 2013 marked the groundbreaking ceremony of the new Jinqiao manufacturing plant in Shanghai that will manufacture Cadillacs in China for China.

“Shanghai GM’s new plant and PATAC’s new facility will enhance our ability to engineer and manufacture vehicles for our customers across China,” said Ye Yongming, President of Shanghai GM. “They will support the full implementation of our luxury car strategy while allowing us to address competitive challenges well into the future.”

Shanghai GM, a 50-50 joint venture between General Motors and China’s SAIC, is investing RMB 8 billion ($1.3 billion USB) into the plant as well as a new PATAC R&D facility, both of which will occupy a total area of about 750,000 square meters (over 8 million square feet).

Jinqiao manufacturing operations has a planned annual capacity of 160,000 luxury vehicles (read: Cadillacs) and will include a body shop, paint shop, general assembly shop, auxiliary facilities, and high-speed and brand experience center. The state-of-the-art plant will adopt the world’s most advanced automation systems and contain a range of new technologies and processes for lean and green operations.

General Motors has set a goal of tripling Cadillac’s annual sales in China to 100,000 units by 2015 and increasing its (currently very low) share of China’s luxury car market to 10 percent by 2020.

The GM Authority Take

Now it’s a matter of selling the locally-built Cadillacs — something that shouldn’t prove to be too difficult given the improved price-competitiveness of the locally-built models.