GM is getting very serious with its push into India. GM will bring several China-made cars to the car-hungry Indian market. One of those is the Chevrolet Sail sedan, made in China by the Shanghai-GM joint venture.

The Chinese partner of that joint-venture, SAIC, also has a 50% stake in GM-India. So far we have only seen the Sail sedan, the Sail hatchback might come to India as well.

Another one we are sure about is the Wuling Hong Guang minivan. Wuling is a Chinese three-way joint venture between GM, SAIC and Wuling Automotive. The Hong Guang will also be sold in India under the Chevrolet brand.

Note steering wheel on the right.

Via: IndianAutosBlog.com.

New spy shots from the China-developed Chevrolet Sail testing in India. General Motors and its Chinese partner SAIC (Shanghai Auto) are working together in GM-India that will bring several Chinese cars to the Indian auto market, all to be badged as Chevrolets.

One car is the Chevrolet Sail sedan, probably the hatchback as well, and the other one is the Wuling Hong Guang. Wuling is a three-way Chinese joint venture between GM, SAIC and Wuling Auto. The Hong Guang will be sold under the Chevrolet brand as well.

When the new China-made Chevy’s will hit the Indian market is yet unsure, but GM has earlier indicated it would be within this year.

Via: IndianAutosBlog.com.

The new Chevrolet Malibu will be listed on the China car market on February 15. The Malibu is made in China by the Shanghai-GM joint venture. Engines: 2.0 and 2.4 at launch, a 1.6 turbo will follow later. The Malibu stands on the same platform as the Buick Regal that is made in China as well. Via: Autohome.

Here we have a very special car. It is a Chevrolet Sail SRV wagon, based on the Opel Corsa from Germany. The Corsa came to China as the Buick Sail in 2001 and changed its name to Chevrolet Sail in 2005. It was made in China by the Shanghai-GM joint venture and rather successful, but also incredible boring. One Sail-buyer from the great city of Kunming in Yunnan Province decided to do something about that.

Full aero-kit, special shiny gold paint, roof-rails and a big wing, more wings and spoilers, a crapload of cool looking stickers, new grille, new white alloys, low profile tires and for sure a fat exhaust pipe. A great project indeed; approved!

It’s 82 or nothing.

This Chevrolet Sail SRV loox always fast, even at night, thanks to a fine light-set that sit under the car, light behind the grille, I haven’t seen that before, lights behind the window and on the rear wing. Quite a spectacle.

This is the standard Sail, 2006 car. Price started around 70.000 yuan and ended around 100.000 yuan. Power came from an Opel 1.2, 1.4 or 1.6.

There was also a Sail sedan. See SRV on the left.

The Buick Sail SRV.

Via: chetx.com, autohome.com.

The Buick Encore compact SUV debuted yesterday at the Detroit Auto Show. It might be a bit on the small side for America but it will do fine in China where it will be made by the Shanghai-GM joint venture, production will start in about 3 months.

The Buick Encore has been spotted testing on Chinese roads, debut of the China-made car is expected at the Beijing Auto show in April. Targets: the Volkswagen Tiguan and the Nissan Qashqai. Engines for the China market: 1.6 turbo and 1.8, maybe a 2.0. Price will range from 180.000 yuan to 250.000 yuan.

Via: 163.com.

General Motors Co., the biggest foreign automaker in China, said it expanded sales in the country to a record last year, led by demand for its Buick and Chevrolet sedans.

Deliveries to Chinese dealers in 2011 climbed 8.3 percent from a year earlier to 2.55 million vehicles, the Detroit-based company said in a statement today. Sales of mini commercial vehicles and sedans at GM’s minivan venture with SAIC Motor Corp. rose 4.8 percent to 1.29 million units.

GM plans to expand its luxury Cadillac range in China and introduced the local Baojun brand last year to cater to entry- level buyers and offered discounts on light trucks as demand waned, helping it outpace industry growth. China’s overall vehicle sales slowed last year from 2010’s record 32 percent increase as inflation, higher interest rates and the end of a two-year stimulus plan deterred purchases.

“They attacked the market on two ends,” John Zeng, Shanghai-based director of Asian forecasting at industry researcher LMC Automotive, said in a phone interview. “In higher-end models they introduced a curvy European style which Chinese consumers liked, and in the low-end market they launched completely locally designed models.”

GM will introduce more than 60 new and upgraded models in the five years from 2011 to 2015, half of them under its Buick and Chevrolet brands, the company said last April at the Shanghai auto show. GM started taking orders for its battery- electric hybrid Volt sedan in November, and its new Malibu midsized sedan will be available in China this year.

GM, Toyota

In December, GM’s deliveries increased 9.8 percent from a year earlier to 196,797. Shanghai GM, the U.S. carmaker’s sedan venture with SAIC that produces Buick and Chevrolet-brand cars, boosted full-year sales 16 percent to 1.2 million vehicles. In 2010, GM sales in China climbed 29 percent to 2.35 million units.

GM, headed by Chief Executive Officer Dan Akerson, increased deliveries in 2011 even as China’s overall auto sales growth slowed. Toyota Motor Corp., Asia’s largest automaker, said sales in the country rose 4 percent last year to 883,000 vehicles, the slowest pace of growth in at least seven years, as natural disasters disrupted output and demand slowed with the end of government stimulus policies.

China removed subsidies for rural buyers and phased out a cut in the sales tax last January, while the city of Beijing imposed quotas on new vehicle licenses. Industrywide deliveries for 2011 may have risen 3 percent to 5 percent, the least in 13 years, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, which will release annual figures next week.

First-Time Buyers

In response to slowing demand, GM cut the price of its Wuling Sunshine light trucks, which retail at about $4,400, from May. The automaker also rolled out its local sedan brand Baojun to target first-time buyers in inland provinces and less developed cities.

The carmaker aims to double deliveries in the country to 5 million by 2015 and plans to focus on expanding its luxury car brand Cadillac and its sport-utility vehicle lineup, GM’s China president Kevin Wale said last month. He forecast that Chinese auto demand may expand 7 percent to 10 percent in 2012, led by demand for passenger cars, with sales of commercial vehicles probably growing 5 percent.

“The luxury market in China is going to grow very strongly,” Wale said in an interview on Bloomberg Television on Dec. 21. “It’s a big focus for us.”

Via: BusinessWeek.

The new Cadillac XTS sedan will debut at the Beijing Auto Show in April. Production will bgegin near the end of the year. Price is expected to start around 400.000 yuan. The XTS stands on an extended Epsillon II platform, a platform that is already used in China by the Shanghai-GM joint venture for the Buick Regal, Buick Lacrosse and the Chevrolet Malibu. The XTS has to compete with the locally made BMW 5-series, Benz E-class, Audi A6 and Volvo S80.

Cadillac currently only makes the aging SLS in China (with 2.0 turbo engine!). There are big new plans however, GM is betting heavy on Cadillac for the Chinese market to get a share of the lucrative luxury market. The SR-X crossover, Caddy’s best seller at the moment, will likely see local production as well.

Via: 163.com.

Another one bites the Bling. Here we have a very well blinged Buick Regal, made in China by the Shanghai-GM joint venture. The wrap is perfectly smooth all over the car and shiny even at night. The car resides somewhere in Beijing and the proud owner s a member of the Beijing Buick Regal club. Yez, in China they have Regal-clubs.

This bling Regal is based on the Regal GS that debuted in China in September last year. The standard GS is powered by a 2.0 turbo with 220hp and 350nm. That for sure was not enough for this mama, when it loox bling is should go like bling. After some fiddling with the ECU and a new exhaust system the Regal is now good for 260hp and 400nm. All on the front wheels indeed…

Brilliant piece of work!

Some other cars of the club.

Via: Huanqiu.com.

The Buick Encore SUV will debut at the Detroit Auto Show next year. There will be an Opel-branded version for Europe as well. The Encore will also be made in China, by the Shanghai-GM joint venture. GM is busy testing the vehicle on Chinese roads which likely means its China-debut will be at the April 2012 Beijing Auto Show.

Power will come from various Opel-designed ‘Ecoboost’-engines, probably 1.6. 1.8 and 2.0. (Maybe a 2.0 turbo..?)

Via: Sohu.com.

Still remember the famous viral from 2008 where a Shanghai Lady towed a tow truck with a Chevrolet Captiva? Yez that was funny but very staged. This time though it is for real. A woman in Liaoning Province gets very angry when police wants to tow her Buick Excelle away.

The car is already on the tow truck but the woman gets in and manages to get off (Excelle is FWD). It is funny to see how policemen get totally confused. They try to stop her but fail miserably, the woman simply drives away. Great work, good woman, but the law will get her anyway… Movie time:

Via: Autohome.