General Motors said on Friday its first mini-car for China, the Spark, will roll off the assembly line on Saturday, while pricing of the 51-horsepower model will be announced in early December, when it is delivered to dealers in China, Dow Jones reported.
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The news agency noted that the car is at the centre of a dispute about copyright protection in China – it is said to resemble another China-made vehicle, dubbed the Chery, which is built by one of GM’s partners in China.
The Spark itself is based on the GM Daewoo Matiz while the Chery sells in China for around $US6,024, the report said.
Dow Jones said the Spark is being built by SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co. in Guangxi province, a company 50% owned by Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., 34% by GM and about 16% by Wuling Automotive.
SAIC owns part of the company that makes the Chery, the news agency noted.
GM officials have refrained from public comment on the Chery but a SAIC official recently told Dow Jones the dispute would be settled soon.
Dow Jones said the partners have announced plans to expand production capacity at the Wuling plant by 150,000 vehicles to 336,000 by 2006 – it now makes a number of vehicles, including small trucks priced as low as $3,200 each.
