General Motors has opened a CNY8bn ($ 1.2bn) Cadillac plant in Shanghai, China to produce CT6 luxury sedan range.
The plant, operated by SAIC-GM joint venture, will produce at least 160,000 cars per year.
The plant has been established with a view to expand Cadillac's growth and overall industry position of GM in China.
Cadillac CT6 will be officially introduced in China on 27, January.
The 477,000m2 plant is divided into three main shops which include body shop, paint shop, general assembly shop, a high-speed test track and auxiliary facilities.
At the body shop, there are two fully-automated production lines - one for steel and the other for aluminum bodies. The shop consists of 386 robots and it uses latest technologies for wielding.
At the paint shop, various paint processes such as membrane pretreatment, electrophoretic coating, second color coating, transparent color coating are done.
The general assembly shop focuses on digital assembly facility and systems that monitor torque information for every key fastening point.
GM executive vice president and GM China president, Matt Tsien said: "This is another major milestone for Cadillac in its second-largest market.
"Local production will enable us to satisfy growing demand for luxury vehicles through the introduction of more Cadillac models built in and for China."
According to GM, the Cadillac plant has been designed to be a 'green' plant with environmentally friendly spray booth exhaust system, dry venturi scrubbers, high reduction in volatile organic compounds and reduced power consumption make the plant three times cleaner than a conventional plant shops.
The company had broken ground on the plant in June 2013 to increase its share in China's luxury car market to 10% by 2020.
In 2014, the company's Cadillac luxury brand recorded 17% rise in sales to 79,779 units.
Image: SAIC-GM's Cadillac plant. Photo: Courtesy of General Motors
