| SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile | |
| Native Name: | 上汽通用五菱汽车股份有限公司 |
| Native Name Lang: | zh |
| Type: | Joint venture |
| Location City: | Liuzhou, Guangxi, China |
| Area Served: | China Indonesia |
| Industry: | Automotive |
| Products: | Automobiles Microvans |
| Num Employees: | 20,000[1] |
| Subsid: | Baojun SGMW Indonesia Etsong (2002–03) |
| Brands: | Baojun Wuling |
SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile (Chinese: 上汽通用五菱汽车股份有限公司, abbreviated as SGMW) is a joint venture between SAIC Motor, General Motors, and Guangxi Auto (previously Wuling Group). Based in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, in southwestern China, it makes commercial and consumer vehicles sold in China under the Wuling and Baojun marques, respectively.
SGMW is a major mass-volume producer in the Chinese interior, in 2011 SGMW sold 1,286,000 vehicles in China, and 1,445,000 in 2012.[2] Its offerings range in price from US$5,000 to US$10,000.[3] It is also one of the largest manufacturers of microvans in China. Known as xiao mianbao che (小面包车), or "small bread box cars," these pint-size commercial vehicles are no larger than a compact car and have sold well in the poorer interior.[4] One of its popular microvans was the Wuling Sunshine. Selling more than 450,000 units per year during its height of popularity, SGMW has claimed no one model outsells it in China.
Both SGMW and Liuzhou Wuling Automobile Industry Co. Ltd. use the Wuling brand name and the red, five-diamond "W" logo.
In 2002, the joint venture SAIC-GM-Wuling was formed, with SAIC taking 50.1% of the shares, GM 34%, and Wuling Group (later became Guangxi Auto) 15.9%. Wuling transferred the production of microvans and small trucks to the new company. Since at least 2008, GM sought to increase its ownership achieving this aim c. 2011. Its stake rose to 44%[5] —leaving Wuling with 5.9%.
In 2010, SGMW created a passenger car brand to compete against indigenous products, Baojun. The company sold a passenger vehicle, the Chevy Spark / Daewoo Matiz M150, as the Baojun Lechi from 2007 to 2012, however.
In late 2012, ten years after the formation of the joint-venture, SGMW opened a new factory for the production of Baojun passenger cars in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, ready to produce 400,000 units per year. A factory with capacity for the same number of power trains is also being built.
Baojun currently competes for consumers with indigenous brands like Chery and Geely. Its two offerings include, as of 2012, the 630, a small four-door sedan, and the Lechi minicar. The latter is an updated version of the first generation Daewoo Matiz and was previously sold under the Chevrolet brand name. During the transition between brands, the Lechi was offered as both a Chevrolet and a Baojun.
Since 2020, SAIC-GM-Wuling has categorized its vehicle models into "Red Badge" and "Silver Badge." The "Red Badge" models are primarily designed for light commercial or entry-level passenger vehicles, while the "Silver Badge" models are used for more premium passenger cars in global markets.[6] [7]
See main article: Baojun.
The company has a number of production bases in China. These include a facility in Liuzhou, Guangxi, and a plant in Qingdao, which it had purchased c. 2007.
See main article: SGMW Motor Indonesia. On August 20, 2015, the company operating as PT SGMW Motor Indonesia (Wuling Motors) laid the first stone of a new manufacturing facility in Cikarang, West Java, Indonesia. The facility spans 600,000 square meters, set aside for the production and manufacture of motor vehicles in Indonesia and to set up an export base for Southeast Asia. The investment of the project is around US$700 million. At peak capacity, the plant is expected to produce up to 150,000 vehicles in a year and estimated to create estimated 3,000 jobs. On July 11, 2017, the facility starts its operations for mass production. The first product under the brand Wuling Motors for Indonesian market is Wuling Hongguang S1, renamed as the Wuling Confero.[8] In 2018, SGMW Indonesia launched Baojun 730 as the Wuling Cortez. In 2019, SGMW Indonesia introduced Baojun 530, renamed as Wuling Almaz as their first SUV.
| year | China total | Wuling | Baojun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 1,000,000+ | 1,000,000+ | 0 | |
| 2010 | 1,226,860. | ? | ? | |
| 2011 | 1,285,820 | ? | ? | |
| 2012 | 1,445,203 | ? | ? |
While the majority of SGMW products are sold domestically in China, some export does occur. In 2009, Wuling began to export its small commercial vehicles to South America, the Middle East, and North Africa where they are sold under the Chevrolet brand. The first such vehicles were sent to Peru in July 2009. These exports may constitute CKD knock-down kits with final assembly only done in the receiving nation as is the case in Egypt.
In 2010, GM and SAIC established an equally-owned joint venture which exported SGMW products to India until General Motors stopped selling cars in India at the end of 2017.
Wuling mini-trucks were exported in limited numbers to the United States from 2004 to 2005. SGMW USA, a Cobra Motors company, imported and distributed the vehicles. Those trucks were limited to off-road use (i.e. private property), and were primarily marketed as industrial and commercial vehicles.