WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 General Motors Corp. signed an agreement Monday to export more than $800 million in U.S.-built sport utility vehicles to China.
Under the deal, signed in Washington, GM will send 5,000 Buick Enclave luxury crossover SUVs a year to China for three to four years starting in 2008, the Detroit automaker and its Shanghai General Motors joint venture said.
GM will also export U.S.-made auto parts and other vehicles, The Detroit News reported.
The Enclave -- built at GM's Delta Township assembly plant near Lansing, Mich. -- and the other GM vehicles will be imported by GM partner SAIC Motor Corp. of Shanghai and sold through its network of nearly 400 Buick dealerships in China.
Buick, China's best-selling brand, dates from 1912 in that country, when the first GM car was sold in Shanghai, GM said.
Sales of vehicles by GM and its joint ventures rose 31.8 percent in 2006 to a record 876,747 and will likely top 1 million vehicles this year, GM said.
In May, GM signed a deal to export $700 million worth of Cadillacs and automotive components to China, the world's fastest-growing major auto market, the News said.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
