General Motors to Invest $5 Billion to Develop New Car Family

GM along with SAIC Motor, a Chinese carmaker and GM's joint-venture partner, will develop the vehicle family core architecture and engine. The company said creating one all-new vehicle family to replace several existing vehicles will help it to substantially improve competitiveness and profitability by delivering what customers expect in each market while taking maximum advantage of the benefits of global scale.

Mark Reuss, GM executive vice president, Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain, said, "This new vehicle family will feature advanced customer-facing technologies focused on connectivity, safety and fuel efficiency delivered at a compelling value. It will be a combination of content and value not offered previously by any automaker in these markets that are poised for growth."

The carmaker clarified that it has no plans to export the vehicles to mature markets such as the United States. It further adds that the vehicles will feature a high level of localization of parts that, in turn, will allow significant savings over the life of the program.

GM said the first vehicle from this program should arrive in the markets by 2019. It expects to sell over 2 million units per year.

"With a significant majority of anticipated automotive industry growth in 2015 to 2030 outside of mature markets, Chevrolet is taking steps to capitalize on that growth," said General Motors President Dan Ammann. "Strengthening Chevrolet's position through this major investment is consistent with our global strategy to ensure long-term profitable growth in the markets where we operate."