Wuling N300 series

Under the agreement, SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co. will rebadge its N200 series and N300 series mini commercial vehicles for overseas markets.

The vehicles will be sold as Chevrolets through GM's distribution network, General Motors China Investment Co. said today. The first shipment of 150 Wuling N200s products was scheduled to leave the port of Guangzhou today.

"This is an important example of how the new General Motors Co. is leveraging our global resources at the local level," Kevin Wale, president of GM China Group, said in a statement. "By taking advantage of our unique family of minivans built and sold in China, we will address the need of GM customers in several key markets for affordable transportation."

Experiment

Shipping cars out of China may serve as a valuable experiment in using the country as a low-cost manufacturing base for worldwide sales. Few global automakers currently do this.

GM has no immediate plan to bring the Wuling vehicles to North America, GM China spokesman Jonathan Mao said.

Under an earlier agreement, SAIC-GM-Wuling began exporting the N200 to Peru in 2008 as the Chevrolet N200. The new arrangement encompasses the N300 and two additional continents.

Still, annual export volume is expected be a relatively small 4,000 units, Mao said.

China is a rare bright spot for GM, which just emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy after shedding unwanted assets. The Detroit automaker is likely to beat its China sales forecast of 1.4 million vehicles this year, Johan Willems, vice president of GM International Operations, told Reuters earlier this month. That would be a 27 percent sales increase over last year.

China importance

As a sign of China's growing importance to the new GM, the company has rearranged all its overseas operations under the umbrella of the newly created GMIO unit. The group is based in Shanghai and headed by Nick Reilly.

SAIC-GM-Wuling is a three-way partnership between GM, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. and Liuzhou Wuling Automotive Co. GM China holds a 34.0 percent stake, SAIC holds 50.1 percent and Liuzhou Wuling holds 15.9 percent. It produces the Chevy Spark in addition to mini trucks.

Growth driver

SAIC-GM-Wuling has been an increasingly important growth driver for the U.S. automaker in China. It sold 87,925 vehicles in July, up 90.7 percent from a year earlier helped by Beijing's stimulus initiatives, including subsidies for buyers in rural areas, Reuters reported.

GM has been seeking to increase its holding in the venture.

Local media reported today that GM had secured an initial deal to take over Liuzhou Wuling Auto's 15.9 percent stake for roughly 300 million yuan ($43.90 million), but Reuters reported that a GM spokeswoman in China said no agreement had been signed.

GM also operates a car venture in Shanghai with SAIC, making Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac models.