The world’s most populous country, home of cutthroat prices and cheap labor, is rapidly turning into a global factory floor. Writing in The Wall Street Journal recently, Karby Leggett and Todd Zaun say that Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. plan to spend a combined $3 billion in China over the next few years to build or expand factories. Volkswagen, the market leader in China, General Motors Corp. and Honda Motor Co. all entered China years ago and are spending heavily to maintain their positions.
GM’s flagship car plant in Shanghai is running nearly at capacity, and GM is said to be about to sign a deal with its long-time partner Shanghai Automotive Industry (Group) Corp. (SAIC) to take over a $109 million greenfield car plant. GM and SAIC will share evenly in controlling the plant, which will boost GM’s car production capacity in China by about 50 percent.