Costing $1.3 billion to build, the news of the plant approval is a major boost for GM, coming at a time when it has expressed its interest to increase its share of the luxury car market in China. Currently dominated by Audi and BMW, this market has been steadily growing in recent years as people’s income levels have increased.
In 2012, GM sold close to 30,000 Cadillac cars, far fewer than the 300,000 plus vehicles sold by both Audi and BMW. Earlier this year, GM said in its annual report that "growing Cadillac sales in China is a priority", with its goal being to triple sales to 100,000 units within two years.
Manufacturing in China should help GM bring down the cost of its cars, not least because Beijing imposes steep duty imports on luxury vehicles.
The carmaker said construction of the new plant, which will have the capacity to make 150,000 vehicles a year, would begin in June.
