The partnership – called General Motors SAIC Investment Ltd. – also plans to upgrade GM's Halol assembly plant in Gujarat to build light commercial vehicles drawn from the product lineup of the SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture.

The Halol plant can produce up to 85,000 units annually; the upgrade will not expand the plant's capacity. The trucks will be available in three models.

GM India President Karl Slym told reporters that factory retooling will cost roughly $50 million per model produced.

The venture has not yet chosen a brand for the commercial vehicles to be sold in India.

In 2012, the venture will sell SAIC-designed passenger cars in India under the Chevrolet brand, which will be assembled in GM's Talegaon plant in Maharastra. The partners will expand production at that plant to 300,000 units per year by 2012 or 2013.

GM formed its Indian partnership with SAIC last December, when it sold the assets of GM India to a Hong Kong-based entity called General Motors SAIC Investment Ltd. The two partners have invested $650 million in the venture.

The 50-50 venture aims to expand into a variety of emerging markets, starting with India. The joint venture will focus on the Indian market for the next five years or so. After that, the venture will expand into markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, reports The Hindu Business Line of Bombay.

"It is important for us to get India right in the first five years before thinking of a foray into other parts of Asia," Joseph Y.H. Liu, executive vice president of Shanghai General Motors Corp., told journalists.