Report: GM raises stake in Chinese JV to 44%
General Motors Co. has increased its stake in its minivan production joint venture SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co. to 44 percent, up from 34 percent, the official Xinhua news agency said.
With the Chinese government's approval, GM received the additional stake from Wuling Automotive Group Co., a state-owned company controlled by the Liuzhou city government in southwest China's Guangxi region.
GM paid $51 million for the share transfer. It also pledged to provide technical support to the joint venture over the next three years, Xinhua reported.
Wuling's stake in the partnership has dropped to 5.9 percent. Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp.'s controlling 50.1 percent stake remains unchanged.
The partnership, established in 2002 as a three-way joint venture among SAIC, GM and Wuling, is China's largest minivan manufacturer. Last year it sold 1.0 million commercial vehicles, up 65 percent from 2009, according to J.D. Power.
For years, GM has rebadged a few of the joint venture's minivans as Chevrolets and sold them in other emerging markets such as Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.
In 2009, GM and SAIC formed a joint venture in India. The two companies plan to build the joint venture's commercial vehicles in India.
