Wuling not to sell stake to GM

By: Linda Luo   2010-07-30

LIUZHOU, Guangxi - Liuzhou Wuling Automobile Corp. said on July 27 that the Wuling Group had never talked with other shareholders on stake transfer of SAIC-GM-Wuling (SGMW) or selling the Wuling brand, and had not received any decisions from any government authorities on the two issues.

Wuling Group believed the current stake structure well fit the interests of all the stakeholders and needs of SGMW's business operation. As for ownership of the Wuling brand, Wuling Group said the brand belongs to the company itself, and will forever be a Chinese auto brand.

Earlier reports said the Liuzhou-based automaker would sell all or a part of its 15.9-percent stake in SAIC-GM-Wuling (SGWM) to GM to exchange the latter's support in developing SGMW's new passenger vehicle brand, the Baojun.

SGWM is a Liuzhou-based three way joint venture among SAIC,GM and Liuzhou Wuling, with a stake of 50.1%, 34% and 15.9% respectively. In the first six months of this year, SGWM sold a total of 680,000 vehicles, most of which are Wuling branded microvans.