General Motors gears up for Asian car market
General Motors gears up for Asian car market
WASHINGTON (AFP): General Motors Corp. has set a goal to win 10 percent of the Asian auto market by 2005 to gain a stake in what GM chairman John Smith said could soon be the world's biggest automobile market.
Smith unveiled the strategy at the Detroit Auto Show this week, saying the top automaker was aiming to more than double its current 4.6 percent market share in Asia.
"There is unanimous agreement that over the next 10 years growth in our industry will be concentrated in East Asia," Smith said.
"We expect Asia to account for more than 30 percent of the world's market by year 2005 -- making this market larger than both the North American and European market."
GM spokesman Mike Meyerand said the company was already making strides toward boosting its presence in Asia, having concluded agreements to manufacture trucks in Indonesia and automobiles in China. GM is also boosting its production of right-hand-drive vehicles for export to several Asian countries.
Passenger car
"We're number one in the US, and either number one or number two in Europe and Latin America. But in Asia, we're way back," said Meyerand.
"We're doing a lot in Asia to get to the 10 percent mark."
A major coup for GM was its agreement with China to be a partner in the Shangai Automotive Industry Corporation to built a mid-sized passenger car. GM edged out Ford in that competition.
GM, which has a joint production facility with Toyota in the United States, is also selling some 20,000 U.S-made Cavaliers in Asia annually under the Toyota nameplate. GM also plans to export right-hand-drive Saturns to Asia, Meyerand said.
"While we are working to strengthen our positions in North America and Europe, we are also intending being a significant competitor in all the open markets of the world," Smith said at the auto show.
"Ten years ago, about 20 percent of GM vehicle sales were outside North America. Today it is over 33 percent."
Smith said he expected efficiencies from sharing of designs across GM divisions around the world. Thus cars produced by GM's Opel unit in Europe are being sold in Asia and one Opel-developed platform is used for a new U.S Cadillac luxury vehicle.
"We are developing global vehicle platforms and component sets which we can adapt to fill the gaps and eliminate the overlaps and duplications in our global product lineup," Smith said.