General Motors Co, the largest US automaker, and its Chinese partners will build a factory to produce Wuling brand vehicles in Indonesia to tap demand in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
GM, SAIC Motor Corp and Liuzhou Wuling Motors Co will build the manufacturing plant at a location near Jakarta, the Detroit-based company said in a statement on Monday.
Construction on the facility, which could later produce vehicles for export to other Southeast Asian countries, is targeted to start this year, according to the statement, which didn’t provide details on annual capacity or on the amount of investment to be made.
The Indonesia venture is part of GM and SAIC’s plans to expand their successful partnership in China to overseas markets. The companies have an existing cooperation in India, where they sell products such as the Chevrolet Sail sedan.
The facility will be built at an investment of about US$700 million (22.8 billion baht) and will have a capacity to produce 150,000 vehicles a year, Indonesia’s Antara news agency reported on Friday, citing Panggah Susanto, acting director-general for high-tech industry at the country’s Industry Ministry. Production will start in August 2017, according to the report.
The communications teams at both SAIC and GM did not immediately reply to e-mails and phonecalls seeking more details of the investment.