SHANGHAI – SAIC-GM-Wuling (SGMW) announced that it will build a third manufacturing base in Chongqing Municipality to keep pace with the demand for its vehicles.

The joint venture between GM China, SAIC, and Wuling Motors will begin construction of its new facility in early 2013, pending relevant government approvals. The RMB 6.6 billion first phase is scheduled to open in 2015. The facility will have an annual production capacity of 400,000 vehicles and engines, according SGMW. It will adopt GM’s global manufacturing processes and standards. SGMW will discuss which models will be built closer to the start of production.

SGMW currently operates manufacturing bases in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and Qingdao, Shandong. The production base in Chongqing will give SGMW a strategic position in Southern, Northern and Midwestern China, according to the joint venture. It will enable SGMW to reach its production target of 2 million vehicles per year by the end of 2015.

SGMW has been a mini-commercial vehicle producer in China since 2006. In 2009, it sold 1 million vehicles in China. It currently has had year-to-date sales of 1,311,489 units in the domestic market with 47.5 percent of China’s mini-commercial vehicle segment. It is on track to top last year’s record domestic sales of 1,285,820 vehicles, according to the joint venture.

Chongqing Municipality, formerly part of Sichuan province, is one of China’s largest cities and an industrial center in Midwestern China. It has well-established infrastructure, a favorable investment environment, and a developed automotive components industry, according to SGMW.