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06-06-2007
Production
of a small engine developed by SAIC-GM-Wuling
Automobile Co. and GM Daewoo Auto & Technology
Co. will begin before the end of the year at
a new engine plant in Liuzhou, says Tuo Yongchang,
a Wuling spokesman.
Initial volumes for the engine will be more
than 500,000 annually, says an executive at
a supplier to the engine maker.
"It is hard to find a program of that size
in China," says the executive. It will
replace an engine with dated technology, he
says.
SAIC-GM-Wuling -- a joint venture of Shanghai
Automotive Industries Corp., General Motors
and Wuling Automotive -- is in Liuzhou in southwest
China¡¯s Guangxi province.
The engine may later be exported to GM Daewoo¡¯s
plants in Korea, a move that would raise annual
volumes to close to 1 million, says the supplier
executive.
The first engine produced will be available
in 1.0-, 1.1-, and 1.2-liter displacements,
the supplier executive says. A larger engine
will be added later, he says.
The Liuzhou plant¡¯s capacity is
only 300,000 engines annually. So the new engine
also will be produced at GM¡¯s plants
in Qingdao in the northeast China province of
Shandong, says the supplier executive.
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