GM Daewoo's Matiz to Enter China With Local Production

GM Daewoo's subcompact Matiz will be manufactured and marketed in China as Chevrolet's Spark.

GM Daewoo Auto & Technology said on Sunday that production of the subcompact began a month ago at factories of Shanghai Auto International Corp. (SAIC), a General Motors joint venture in China.

The Matiz, priced at between 61,800 yuan ($7,467) and 72,800 yuan, will available for local customers in 14 Chevrolet showrooms in major cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, the company said.

Production capacity for the subcompact will be further increased to 336,000 units with the building of a new plant by 2006, GM Daewoo said.

GM Daewoo started selling its mid-sized sedan Lacetti as Buick's Excelle in August, which was produced by SAIC.

Its Magnus sedan will also help the company to increase market share there, which will be produced and sold locally from next year.