General Motors (GM), the largest foreign automaker in China, is considering purchasing an additional 10.9 percent stake in the nation's mini-commercial vehicle sales leader, SAIC-GM-Wuling, said an executive at its Chinese partner Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (Group), or SAIC.

The SAIC-GM-Wuling venture currently includes GM with a 34 percent share, Shanghai Automotive with a 50.1 percent share and Guangxi government-owned Wuling Motors with a 15.9 percent stake.

The US automaker is said to be in talks with the Guangxi government to boost its holding in SAIC-GM-Wuling to 44.9 percent from the current 34 percent, Chen Hong, president of SAIC, the venture's biggest stockholder said at a shareholders' general meeting yesterday in Shanghai.

Shanghai-listed SAIC would retain its 50.1 percent stake, said Chen, indicating that SAIC won't alter its holdings in the venture.

If the proposed deal goes through, GM would be able to increase its shareholding, leaving the Guangxi government-owned Wuling Motors with a 5 percent stake.

While GM China officials refused to comment on the news yesterday, the vehicle venture has been good for all the parties involved. Just last Friday, SAIC-GM-Wuling announced that it had become the first Chinese automaker to sell 1 million vehicles in a single calendar year. Wuling is the first domestic brand to achieve annual sales of 1 million units.

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