GM Inaugurates New Ultium Center Factory In China
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A few weeks after launching a marketing campaign for the Ultium platform in China, General Motors has just inaugurated the new Ultium Center factory in the city of Shanghai. The Ultium Center is qualified as a “super factory” that will produce entire battery systems and state-of-the-art motors for the automaker’s upcoming fully electric vehicles in the Asian country.
SAIC-GM, the US automaker’s main joint venture in China, announced the start of operations at the new Ultium Center factory as a milestone for mass production of next-generation Buick, Cadillac and Chevrolet electric vehicles. As such, it will become the main supplier of powertrains and battery packs for Ultium EV platform-based electric vehicles built in China.
The joint venture, which recently launched a new logo to represent GM’s new global corporate image and jump-start the electric era, announced that the new Ultium Center factory is part of the massive 50-billion yuan investment (about $ 7.8 billion USD) that the manufacturer is spending for automotive electrification, intellectualization and connectivity technologies.
The new Ultium Center factory was built on top of SAIC-GM’s former automotive battery systems development center in Shanghai, which was completely renovated to manufacture and test all powertrains in the Ultium platform vehicle portfolio for the Chinese market. The factory currently produces battery packs of all types, including mild hybrids, plug-in hybrids and locally developed electric batteries.
In conjunction with two New Energy Vehicle (NEV) test centers recently inaugurated by the company, the new Ultium Center factory further strengthens SAIC-GM’s electrified powertrain development capabilities. In addition, it will enable it to provide strong technical support to Ultium EV platform systems in China – which has the world’s largest automotive market and EV demand.
The rollout of GM’s Ultium EV technology in China will begin with the local launch of the all-new Cadillac Lyriq, which will soon start accepting reservations in the Asian country and hit the Chinese market early next year. Additionally, the company plans to launch more than ten locally built, Ultium EV platform-based all-electric vehicles from its three subsidiary brands by 2025.
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Each day, it seems like this is more of a Chinese company focused on the Chinese market and what’s best for China.
To quote Willie Sutton : “That’s where the money is ! “
Making money in China and bringing it back to America is great news the way I see it.
Every dollar we bring back here we send them triple if not more so who is actually winning? China can cripple the US auto industry along with many many other American manufacturers.
Ben
The US is the largest exporter of food and animal feed by far. We could go without cars a lot longer than the Chinese can go without food.
Let me ask you a question about that. If things were to get real bad between us and them and say for example they decided to put really big tariffs on our goods what would happen? Or can they say something like we aren’t going to sell you this or that anymore?
Or it’s an international company headquartered in the US trying to make products for a specific location.
Maybe the Chinese are more competent and efficient at getting this facility operational versus The new Ultium production facility in the US? Maybe the Chinese are more accepting of EVs and GM prioritized this facility over the US facilities? Maybe there was an existing facility in China that needed less upgrades in order to produce the Ultium batteries and thus the reason its ready for production.
Ultimately we don’t know. Instead of making such a foolish statement, realize there could be any number of reasons for this and simply look forward to when production is up and running in the US.
Chris
GM doesn’t sell sports cars, pickups or large SUVs in China. In China vehicles with engines larger than 2.0 L are very highly taxed.
So anytime you see a larger more powerful GM vehicle, you can rest assured that that vehicle was designed for the North American market.
The Chinese market for EVs is huge compared to the US, and these factories are being built to produce vehicles for that market, primarily because in order to sell in China, they must be manufactured there, or face huge tariffs. GM is also investing heavily in manufacturing to be done in the US. A lot of that will be funded from selling Electric vehicles in China. More needs to be done in the US to increase the acceptance of EVs. There is plenty of money to be made and lots of jobs to be created in doing so.
It is no longer true that huge tariffs stand against importing cars into China, and foreign manufacturers do not necessarily have to enter a Joint-Venture agreement with a Chinese company; see Tesla’s Chinese factory.
Nontheless, the recommendation to “build where you sell” is still valid, also for China, the largest car market on this planet.
What gm needs to do is clean up the pension fund. It’s 12 billion in the hole. The money they make in China will stay in China.
I think the UAW took over pension and retiree healthcare costs, as part of the 2007 labor agreement.
In the deal the big 3 paid the UAW tens of billions of dollars. The UAW would work extra hard to unionize transplant factories.
More EV’s in China means less carbon, and revenue for GM.
More revenue for GM so that they can continue to invest more in China. That sounds great.
I try to buy things that are made in America but it’s hard to do when everything is made in China or in other countries!!
As stated in the article, GM is building these in China for sale in China, not for US distribution.
Open your eyes and look closer!
She is she’s just stating it’s not easy since most things are made there. Clean your glasses off then look closer.
THE UNION BANKRUPTED GM WITH THEIR “JOBS BANK”, WITH GM HELP BY OVERPAYING THEIR “LEADERS”.
All the world, all of humanity is hating you.
Hating who the USA?
Because all the world are spineless cucks to China and humankind is altogether dismal at this point. China will own everything and you’ll be eager to show your fealty.
@observer7 October 21, you have no clue what you are talking about I Guess you started your weekend drinking early huh?
Actually, Howie, it took me not to live in the USA, but in Germany (consider the time difference of that place to the US pacific time zone, which rules over the time stamps of this forum).
I regretted the above comment, because it does not help the discussion, and I thought about deleting it.
But there is truth in it. It was the “manifest destiny”, or rather the bad fate of the white settlers conquering the North American part of America, and becoming the most powerful and therefore most destructive empire humankind has seen.
Despite this, no, not every human being hates the USA, but a large part of humankind fears that power, because it was fatal to so many of us human beings, to the detriment to the USAnians. It is not fun to be on the wrong side of history. But the working people of the USA will some time in the future put an end to this endless series of aggression. There are good people in the USA who are working for this. The mass movement against the Vietnam war was a huge step forward, but the movement is not linear but suffers setbacks sometimes.
If you didn’t want the US to become so powerful then maybe the 3rd reich should of planned better. The wrong side of history is the idiotic alliance with Japan. Funny thing though I have friends in Germany and the far right is on the rise there big time so we will see what happens.
…but lets continue cutting the corporate tax, and the taxes for those good ol’ 2% folks… because this is one of the thousands reasons why Trickle-Down Economics works so flawlessly.
Too bad that GM was sooooooo shortsighted and left Europe with Chevrolet and Cadillac.
They would have been selling BEV’s like crazy now.
I’m hoping that GM would start manufacturing the BOLT EV and UVE in China to sell in China, Asia and the South Pacific in left and right drive. At 4.1m (164inch) it’s the ideal size for these markets where space is at a premium. At a cost that would be competitive with the Tesla Model 2.