SAIC-GM-Wuling minivans are lined up at a dealership in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. The company has held the top sales position in China's minivan sector for four years. [China Daily]

After reporting strong annual sales in China last year, SAIC-GM-Wuling, General Motors' Chinese joint venture in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, is charting further expansion of its product portfolio and capacity.

"The year of 2010 will be a milestone for SAIC-GM-Wuling," said Yang Jie, general manager of the sales branch under the three-way tie-up between GM, SAIC Motor Corp and Wuling Motors, which is owned by the local government.

"We will launch a self-developed brand in the medium-sized sedan segment to improve our competitiveness, aiming for long-term and sustainable development in the future," said Yang.

"The passenger car will be our company's focus this year, while we still persevere to maintain our dominant leadership in the light commercial vehicle market in China."

Yang told China Daily that Wuling has started to establish the distribution network for the new brand, but refused to disclose the timetable for the passenger car project.

The new car, based on the prototype of GM's Excelle model, is under development in the Pan-Asia Technical Automotive Center, a joint venture between GM and SAIC.

"With our years of experience in operating GM's Chevrolet Spark car in research and development, parts sourcing, manufacturing, sales and services, we are confident about our own passenger car brand," said Yuan Zhijun, the company's vice-general manager.

The company has kept the top position in China's minivan sector for four years. It made an industry record of selling one Wuling minivan every five seconds, on average, in 2009 or 1.06 million units.

GM has begun to sell Wuling vehicles under its Chevrolet badge in Brazil, and listed Wuling into its global brand family.