China’s Great Wall Motor has agreed to buy General Motors’ (GM) car plant in India. The Chinese automaker expands overseas amid slowing domestic demand.
The deal is expected to be completed by the second half of 2020. Through this deal Great Wall will jumpstart its plans to build and sell cars in India and bring to an end GM’s manufacturing operations in the country. The two companies had agreed on the sale. According to reports, Great Wall is likely to pay around $250 million to $300 million to acquire the plant.
Great Wall, one of the biggest sellers of sports-utility vehicles (SUV) in China, plans to enter India with its Haval and electric vehicle brands and will announce detailed plans at the Delhi auto show in February.
GM, which stopped selling cars in India at the end of 2017 has already sold its other plant to SAIC, where the Chinese automaker builds cars under its British brand, MG Motor. Great Wall is expected to upgrade and modify GM’s plant to suit its needs and set up a base for its suppliers and to begin production within a year with an expectation to have an annual production capacity of about 150,000-160,000 vehicles.
