GM Presses For Gains In China
通用汽车(General Motors Corp.)在美国濒临申请破产保护的境地，全球其他部门也危机四伏，在这样的情况下，它正在对中国投入更多关注。由于与两家中国企业建立了合作关系──一是与上海汽车工业（集团）总公司的合资企业，另一个是持有微型客车厂商柳州五菱汽车有限责任公司的少数股权，相对来说，通用汽车在中国依然是一个高速增长的公司。直到前不久，该公司一直是世界汽车产量最大的生产商。Bloomberg News通用五菱生产的面包车在中国农村地区颇受欢迎。公司计划进军中国的低价乘用车市场。通用汽车首席财务长扬(Ray Young)上周说，五菱最终将开始开发自主品牌的超低价位轿车，标志着这家设计仍处于几十年前的水平主要迎合中国农民等农村客户的品牌将迈出重要一步。五菱进入以客户为导向的产品也为通用汽车带来了相当大的机会。目前为止，在新兴市场低成本汽车领域，通用汽车一直依赖其主流品牌雪佛兰(Chevrolet)。扬说，就算没有正统的轿车，几年来五菱的销量仍增长了10倍，如今的年销量在50万辆以上，超过了通用汽车在华所有其他品牌的总和。五菱与通用汽车签有合同，为中国市场生产小型雪佛兰汽车。扬还说，公司也正在考虑将通用汽车中国业务扩展到中国以外的亚太国家，以扩大在整个亚太地区的业务。通用汽车亚太区总裁雷利(Nick Reilly)上周六接受采访时说，五菱的轿车生产计划有可能是实现这个目标的关键。这一计划尚未正式公布。上汽也持有五菱的部分股权，雷利说这家三方合资企业可能显示出，在中国政府要求本土汽车厂商参与全球市场的过程中，通用汽车如何扮演了主角。他说，我们宁可主角是我们，而不是别人。中国有着一个由本土汽车厂商和外国汽车企业组成的复杂网络。从历史上看，外国厂商要想进入中国市场，就必须与中国企业达成合作协议。扬说，这种安排提升了中国汽车厂商的质量和技术水平，也使外国汽车生产商获得了进入中国快速增长的市场的有利地位，比如通用汽车大众汽车(Volkswagen AG)和丰田汽车(Toyota Motor Corp.)。由于通用汽车被迫依赖于美国政府提供的154亿美元贷款和其他国家政府提供的数十亿美元贷款维持运营，近几个月来，有关通用汽车中国业务沸沸扬扬的传言渐渐消退。鉴于全球汽车业的低迷，通用汽车旗下曾经生机勃勃的韩国大宇汽车销售公司(Daewoo Motor Sales Corp.)以及俄罗斯和拉美业务均陷入了困境。通用汽车将于5月份公布一季度收益，届时很可能会公布这些业务均继续下滑。鉴于通用汽车其他部门遭遇的困境，以及中国汽车业的迅速发展，通用汽车中国公司如今被视为公司最重要的企业之一，也是为数不多的几个有望在不遭受严重损失的情况下，渡过当前经济危机的部门之一。通用汽车在欧洲和拉美的欧宝(Opel)部门正考虑与菲亚特(Fiat SpA)等潜在买家达成收购协议，由于主要出口市场的不景气，通用汽车大宇公司曾经的快速增长势头受挫。在其他全球业务疲于挣扎之际，成立时间只有10年多的通用汽车中国公司却在增长。它正着手扩大工厂产能，计划将持有的五菱股份从约三分之一增加至近一半，同时也在寻求其他合作机会。公司计划在未来5年中推出十几款车，最终的目标是在中国推出一款雪佛兰Volt电动汽车。尽管通用汽车并不控股五菱，但若低估这部分业务对该公司的重要性可谓大错特错。扬说，五菱的业务是通用汽车在全球成本最低的业务，已经成为公司在全球的生产成本基准。扬上周在底特律的中国业务午餐会上对不多的听众说，要取得全球胜利，我们必须在中国获胜。在他说此番话之际，通用汽车其他高管和数十家全球汽车厂商的领导正聚首上海，参加每年一度的上海车展。预计中国今年将超过日本，成为世界第一大汽车生产国。扬说，他开始认为中国今年可能会超越美国，成为世界汽车销量最大的国家。通用汽车一直预测中国将在2015年超过美国，不过一季度中国销量已经超过了美国。John D. Stoll相关阅读图片：2009上海国际车展 2009-04-24上海车展 中国厂商掀起电动风 2009-04-22全球汽车业天平正倒向中国 2009-04-21世界汽车厂家寄望上海车展 2009-04-20中国汽车零部件厂家寒潮面前难自保 2009-04-20 本文涉及股票或公司document.write (truthmeter('2009年04月27日15:07', 'GM'));General Motors Co.总部地点：美国上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：GMdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年04月27日15:07', 'CHERY.YY'));Chery Automobile Co.总部地点：中国大陆
General Motors Corp. is intensifying its focus on China as it edges closer to a bankruptcy filing in the U.S. and other international units sputter.The auto maker, until recently the world's biggest by output, has remained a relative powerhouse in China thanks to a pair of partnerships: a joint venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. and a minority interest in microminivan maker Liuzhou Wuling Motors Co.GM Chief Financial Officer Ray Young last week said that Wuling will eventually begin developing its own brand of ultrainexpensive passenger cars, representing a major step for a brand whose decades-old design primarily caters to Chinese farmers and other rural customers. Wuling's push into more consumer-oriented products also presents a considerable opportunity for GM, which has thus far relied on its mainstream Chevrolet brand as its low-cost car division in emerging markets.Mr. Young said that even without a legitimate passenger car, Wuling's sales have increased tenfold in recent years and now represent more than a half-million sales annually, or more than all of GM's other brands combined in China. Wuling has a contract to build small Chevrolet vehicles for the Chinese market.Mr. Young also said the auto maker is looking to expand its GM China operations beyond the nation's borders in order to boost its presence in the entire Asian-Pacific region. GM Asia Pacific President Nick Reilly in an interview Saturday said Wuling's plan to build passenger cars, which hasn't been announced officially, could be the key to making this happen.Shanghai Automotive also owns a stake in Wuling, and Mr. Reilly said that the three-way venture could be how GM plays a leading role in the government's mandate for its indigenous auto companies to become players on the global scene. 'We'd rather it be us than someone else,' Mr. Reilly said.China hosts a complex web of indigenous car companies and outside auto makers. Historically, in order for outsiders to penetrate that market, they had to enter a partnership with a Chinese company. This arrangement has led to better quality and technology for Chinese auto makers and an inside track into the country's rapidly growing market for non-Chinese auto companies, such as GM, Volkswagen AG and Toyota Motor Corp., Mr. Young said.Buzz concerning GM's China operations has faded in recent months as the auto maker has been forced to rely on $15.4 billion in U.S. loans and billions more from other governments to stay afloat. GM's once-thriving Daewoo Motor Sales Corp. operation in South Korea and its businesses in Russia and Latin America have fallen on hard times because of a global downturn in the auto industry. The auto maker is likely to report continued losses in each of these operations when it reports first-quarter earnings in May.Given the hardships of GM's other units and the rapid evolution of the Chinese auto industry, GM China is now considered to be among the company's most important ventures and one of the few units in the company that could survive the current economic crisis without major damage. GM's Opel division in Europe and its Latin America operation are being considered for partnership with Fiat SpA and other suitors, and GM Daewoo's once-blistering growth has been stunted by downturns in most of the major markets where its exports are shipped to.While other global operations struggle, GM China, in existence for little more than a decade, is growing. It is adding plant capacity, plans to increase its stake in Wuling from about a third to nearly a half and is seeking other partnerships. The company plans dozens of vehicle introductions over the next five years, and eventually aims to introduce a version of the Chevrolet Volt electric car in the country.While GM doesn't own a controlling stake in Wuling, underestimating the unit's importance to the Detroit auto maker would be a mistake. Mr. Young said the Wuling operation is GM's 'lowest-cost operation in the world' and it has become the company's global benchmark on production costs.'To win globally, we must win in China,' Mr. Young told a small audience at the Chinese business luncheon in Detroit last week. His comments came as other GM executives and leaders from dozens of other global auto makers were assembled in Shanghai for an annual auto show.China is expected to become the world's No. 1 vehicle producer this year, surpassing Japan. Mr. Young said he is starting to think China could outmuscle the U.S. this year as the No. 1 market for vehicle sales. GM had been predicting China would surpass the U.S. in 2015, but Chinese sales leapfrogged those in the U.S. in the first quarter.-0-Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
General Motors Corp. is intensifying its focus on China as it edges closer to a bankruptcy filing in the U.S. and other international units sputter.The auto maker, until recently the world's biggest by output, has remained a relative powerhouse in China thanks to a pair of partnerships: a joint venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. and a minority interest in microminivan maker Liuzhou Wuling Motors Co.GM Chief Financial Officer Ray Young last week said that Wuling will eventually begin developing its own brand of ultrainexpensive passenger cars, representing a major step for a brand whose decades-old design primarily caters to Chinese farmers and other rural customers. Wuling's push into more consumer-oriented products also presents a considerable opportunity for GM, which has thus far relied on its mainstream Chevrolet brand as its low-cost car division in emerging markets.Mr. Young said that even without a legitimate passenger car, Wuling's sales have increased tenfold in recent years and now represent more than a half-million sales annually, or more than all of GM's other brands combined in China. Wuling has a contract to build small Chevrolet vehicles for the Chinese market.Mr. Young also said the auto maker is looking to expand its GM China operations beyond the nation's borders in order to boost its presence in the entire Asian-Pacific region. GM Asia Pacific President Nick Reilly in an interview Saturday said Wuling's plan to build passenger cars, which hasn't been announced officially, could be the key to making this happen.Shanghai Automotive also owns a stake in Wuling, and Mr. Reilly said that the three-way venture could be how GM plays a leading role in the government's mandate for its indigenous auto companies to become players on the global scene. 'We'd rather it be us than someone else,' Mr. Reilly said.China hosts a complex web of indigenous car companies and outside auto makers. Historically, in order for outsiders to penetrate that market, they had to enter a partnership with a Chinese company. This arrangement has led to better quality and technology for Chinese auto makers and an inside track into the country's rapidly growing market for non-Chinese auto companies, such as GM, Volkswagen AG and Toyota Motor Corp., Mr. Young said.Buzz concerning GM's China operations has faded in recent months as the auto maker has been forced to rely on $15.4 billion in U.S. loans and billions more from other governments to stay afloat. GM's once-thriving Daewoo Motor Sales Corp. operation in South Korea and its businesses in Russia and Latin America have fallen on hard times because of a global downturn in the auto industry. The auto maker is likely to report continued losses in each of these operations when it reports first-quarter earnings in May.Given the hardships of GM's other units and the rapid evolution of the Chinese auto industry, GM China is now considered to be among the company's most important ventures and one of the few units in the company that could survive the current economic crisis without major damage. GM's Opel division in Europe and its Latin America operation are being considered for partnership with Fiat SpA and other suitors, and GM Daewoo's once-blistering growth has been stunted by downturns in most of the major markets where its exports are shipped to.While other global operations struggle, GM China, in existence for little more than a decade, is growing. It is adding plant capacity, plans to increase its stake in Wuling from about a third to nearly a half and is seeking other partnerships. The company plans dozens of vehicle introductions over the next five years, and eventually aims to introduce a version of the Chevrolet Volt electric car in the country.While GM doesn't own a controlling stake in Wuling, underestimating the unit's importance to the Detroit auto maker would be a mistake. Mr. Young said the Wuling operation is GM's 'lowest-cost operation in the world' and it has become the company's global benchmark on production costs.'To win globally, we must win in China,' Mr. Young told a small audience at the Chinese business luncheon in Detroit last week. His comments came as other GM executives and leaders from dozens of other global auto makers were assembled in Shanghai for an annual auto show.China is expected to become the world's No. 1 vehicle producer this year, surpassing Japan. Mr. Young said he is starting to think China could outmuscle the U.S. this year as the No. 1 market for vehicle sales. GM had been predicting China would surpass the U.S. in 2015, but Chinese sales leapfrogged those in the U.S. in the first quarter.-0-Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.