A unit of General Motors Corp. entered a joint adventure with Malaysian conglomerate DRB-HICOM Bhd. on Aug. 28 to explore making Chevrolet cars for Southeast Asia, according to the Associated Press. DRB-HICOM is already the distributor of GM vehicles in Malaysia.
The companies will "explore the establishment of a local vehicle assembly program as well as a manufacturing hub for the production of Chevrolet vehicles, parts and accessories" to be sold in the 10 countries making up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, they said in a joint statement.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam and comprises a community of 550 million people.
"As the largest market for passenger cars in Southeast Asia and a key member of the ASEAN community, Malaysia is a country in which GM believes we must have a major presence," said Steve Carlisle, president of GM's Southeast Asia operations, as reported by AP.
The two companies also launched the Chevrolet Aveo, a 1400cc sedan which costs 69,888 ringgit (US$19,968).
