GM Moving J300 Production Overseas

[CaymanS]

GMDAT (GM Daewoo Auto & Technology) announced plans to reduce productions in Korea and move them overseas. They said Monday that the production of the J300, code-name for the next-generation Lacetti, will be carried out in GM's San Luis Potosi plant in Mexico and its Shangai plant in China from the end of next year. Until now, the Lacetti - known in China as Buick Excelle and the US as Suzuki Forenza or Reno - was produced exclusively in GMDAT's Gunsan plant in South Korea...

http://thecarblogger.blogspot.com/20...-overseas.html

[DuSpinnst]

Is this Delta or Epsilon based? (the new one?).

I get the GMDAT cars mixed up.

[Kennyboy]

Originally Posted by DuSpinnst

Is this Delta or Epsilon based? (the new one?).

I get the GMDAT cars mixed up.

I believe that the new model will be epsilon-based car. The old model was based on a old Daewoo platform.

[t-rex]

Originally Posted by DuSpinnst

Is this Delta or Epsilon based? (the new one?).

I get the GMDAT cars mixed up.

It's the Delta2 Cobalt replacement.

***

The article didn't mention Russia. I've been under the impression that the St. Petersburg plant was a key player in the Cobalt/Lacetti program and would produce all next-gen Lacettis for Russia and Europe.

[gardnet1]

There just making room for something else.

[raygamhu]

Originally Posted by t-rex

It's the Delta2 Cobalt replacement.

***

The article didn't mention Russia. I've been under the impression that the St. Petersburg plant was a key player in the Cobalt/Lacetti program and would produce all next-gen Lacettis for Russia and Europe.

Yes, it will be a key player, but first it will produce cars only for Russia, and only later will produce cars for Europe.

[mikmak]

So we get a chinese Viva?

that will be an interesting test of Chinese manufacturing quality. At least they have pretty harsh conditions for testing and tuning over there. Hopefully the combination of the harsh environment and GMs renewed pursuit of improved manufacturing processes will translate into impressive reliability.

[AG3]

Originally Posted by mikmak

So we get a chinese Viva?

From the carblogger article:

The cars produced in Mexico will be sold in North America as a Chevrolet. It will play a possible role as the replacement of the Chevrolet Cobalt Sedan (pictured). The cars produced in China will be sold in China. The two plants combined are speculated to produce 150 000 units annually.

PS: Another plant that builds the current gen Optra is GM's Rayong Plant in Thailand (mainly for the ASEAN market), perhaps the new one will be built there too.
If the next Viva won't come from GMDAT of Korea, maybe it could come from GM Thailand (I think the recent units of Holden Captivas are also made in Thailand).

[t-rex]

Originally Posted by mikmak

So we get a chinese Viva?

AG3's probably right. Even if the J300 isn't assembled in Korea, though the article suggests it will be, it's likely the components will be manufactured there. Korea could ship CKD packs to Thailand for assembly. GM will need to assemble in ASEAN since most nations there still have stiff tariffs on CBU imports, although some, Thailand for example, have entered free-trade pacts with Japan and a few other countries.

India is expected to either join ASEAN or likely form automotive trade pacts with other Asian nations by the time the J300 goes on sale. So it's possible the GM plant in India could assemble J300's for sale in the Asia-Pacific realm.

Since Thailand and Oz forged a trade pact, several Thai-made vehicles — Accords, Civics, Yarises, and Captivas — are now sold dun'under. It seems likely that if Holden choose to market the J300, which it likely will as it's a key model in GM's global plan, sourcing it from nearby Thailand, or India, would make sense.

The Mexican and Russian plants will likely be running flat-out to meet demand (if the car's as appealing as insiders have tipped it to be) and Chinese J300's are only for Chinese, and possibly Taiwanese, consumption.

[Bravada]

I don't think GM would export the J300 from Russia. It will instantly kill it in Eastern European markets save for Serbia.

I am hoping for FSO assembly.

[DmitryKo]

Originally Posted by Bravada

I don't think GM would export the J300 from Russia. It will instantly kill it in Eastern European markets save for Serbia.

Well, nationalism aside, there would be little economic reason to do so. Russia is not part of the EU so there will probably be a substantial import tariff, just like any EU-built car has to come through about 30% price increase when it crosses the Russian border.

More than that, the current projected capacity of the St. Petersburg plant is about 70 000 CKD kits (has just been increased from initial 25 000) by the end of 2008, which will be shared between the new Lacetti/Cobalt and the Captiva. Considering that the current Lacetti has just outsold the previous market leader, the Focus, with about 20 000 units sold in Q1 2008, there would be no excess capacities left for exports to Eastern Europe markets. GM would probably have to double the capacity again to satisfy the needs of the Russian market alone.