GAC motors ahead with new plant

View of the stand of GAC Group during the 14th Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, also known as Auto China 2016, in Beijing, May 3, 2016. [Photo/IC]

GAC Motor Ltd, the Chinese carmaker focusing on research and development of homegrown vehicles, launched operations at its second assembly plant on Wednesday, which aims to meet growing demand for high-end vehicles.

The new facility, located in Guangzhou and installed with smart manufacturing equipment, will help expand the company's production capacity to 400,000 vehicles per year, according to the company.

"Launching the new processing line will help facilitate research and development of high-end homegrown vehicles," said Wang Qiujing, director of the GAC Automobile Engeering Institute.

Sales of GAC Motor, which was established in 2008, increased by 170 percent year-on-year to 159,000 units in the first half of this year, according to the company.

"The domestic market in recent years has developed huge demand for homegrown vehicles with high quality but relatively lower prices, when compared with joint-venture carmakers," Wang said.

Prior to the launch of the second assembling facility, demand for the company's car models, especially the star SUV GS4, exceeded the company's production capacity, according to GAC Vice-General Manager Xiao Yong.

"The booming market has made us be more consistent with our goal－to develop high-quality cars. We have seen a big sales increase over the past few years and our brand has been well promoted," Xiao added.

Following the production capacity expansion, the company said it will launch at least seven new models within the next five years.

Also Wednesday, the company's newly developed SUV GS8 and plug-in hybrid vehicle GA3S PHEV came off the assembling line.

Sales of the seven-seat GS8, which is as large as Ford's Edge in size, will be launched in October, the company said.

"The GS8 is based on GAC Motor's C-class platform, which will help increase efficiency in producing new models and boost profits," said Xiao.

The GS8 followed the C-class sedan, the GA 8, which was launched in April. Using that platform, one more high-end MPV GM8 will be launched later this year.

"The C-class platform shows China's capability for making luxury cars－a trend that we are positioned to follow in the coming years," said Xiao.

According to Xiao, the Chinese auto market will be dominated by homegrown vehicles in the next five to eight years.

"China is capable of becoming a superpower in research and development of world-class vehicles, as domestically developed vehicles have steadily improved both in brands and quality, as well as safety," said Xiao.