GAC to boost output to 1 million cars

A woman plays virtual games in a car manufactured by GAC Motor Ltd during an auto expo in Beijing. [Photo/China Daily]

GAC Motor Ltd－the Guangzhou-based carmaker focusing on research and development of Chinese homegrown vehicles－will expand its annual output capacity to one million vehicles by 2020 from current levels of 400,000, amid growing demand for high-end Chinese cars, its president said.

"We will launch more high-end varieties in the years ahead, based on our C-Class research and development platform," said Wu Song, president of GAC Motor.

In a sharp contrast to a slow growing domestic car industry, GAC Motor has been forging ahead. The company sold 226,000 vehicles in the first eight months of this year, up 148 percent year-on-year.

Vehicle sales in the Chinese market grew only by 11.4 percent year-on-year from January to August, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

"The big sales increase was based on our principle for years－to develop high quality and safe cars," said Wu, who is also vice general manger of Guangzhou Automobile Group Co, the parent company of GAC Motor. He was speaking during the annual China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, the capital of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The company's newly-launched sedan, the GA8, which is developed under its high-end and luxury C-Class development platform, became designated cars for guests of the annual expo, which concludes on Wednesday.

"We are considering building production lines in Southeast Asia, an important market for the future growth of Chinese self-developed cars," Wu said.

GAC Motor, which was founded in 2008, has begun construction of its assembly line in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, focusing on production of medium and high-end SUV and new energy vehicles.

"Establishment of the Xijiang facility will allow us to tap the far northwest China market and help meet the growing demand for Chinese domestically-made vehicles from countries and regions along the Silk Road Economic Belt," Wu said.

The company is aiming for an initial annual production of 50,000 cars at the 1.6 billion yuan ($244 million) plant, located in the Urumqi Economic and Technological Development Zone. It will eventually target making 200,000 cars annually under the brand of Trumpchi when it is fully operational.

GAC Motor is also planning to improve its assembly facilities in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, after the company acquired GAC Gonow in March, the joint venture between Guangzhou Automobile Group Co and Zhejiang Gonow Holdings Group Co.