US auto car maker General Motors Co (GM) plans to add a new SUV model to its production line at the recently inaugurated joint venture factory in Wuhan city.

Citing company sources, Xinhua News Agency revealed about the move on Sunday.

The joint venture factory is a result of a tie up between China's SAIC and GM. The joint venture firm is officially known as SAIC General Motors (SGM).  

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The report said SGM has reportedly invested 7.5 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) in the new production line, set to manufacture a new generation of GM Chevrolet Equinox SUVs.

The production of Equinox SUVs will add another 360,000 units to the existing plant. This will push the combined capacity of the plant to 600,000, Xinhua reported.  The plant reportedly generated a revenue of nearly 23 billion yuan ($3.4 billion) during first three quarters of the current financial year.        

Speaking at a press conference in March, GM China chief Matt Tsien said sport-utility vehicles, multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) and luxury cars will continue to rank high in popularity.

It is estimated that SUVs and MPVs will account for roughly 40 percent of the company's overall growth in China till 2020.

Meanwhile, GM is not the only one expanding its production line in China. Its main rivals Hyundai and Honda motors have also recently announced their expansion plans, with former planning to focus on green cars and latter planning to start a new factory by 2019.

The cut throat competition among auto car giants to get a larger pie of the Chinese car market is not surprising, given that China is the largest car market in the world.

TagsGeneral Motors, General Motros China, GM China, China Auto Industry, china