Jinqiao Cadillac China Plant

The Cadillac China plant, sometimes known as Cadillac Jinqiao, Cadillac China, or Shanghai-GM Jinqiao, is a vehicle assembly plant located in the town of Jinqiao, Pudong, Shanghai, China. It is currently responsible for the production of all Cadillac models available for purchase exclusively in the Chinese automotive market. The manufacturing facility is owned and operated by SAIC General Motors Corporation Limited (SAIC-GM), a joint venture between Cadillac’s parent company, General Motors, and the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC).

Quick Facts

• • Opened: January 21^st, 2016
  • Facility size: 477,000 square meters (5,134,385 square feet)
  • Facilities:
    • Body shop
    • Paint shop
    • General assembly
    • High-speed test track
    • Auxiliary facilities
  • Annual production capacity: 160,000 vehicles

2016 Cadillac CT6 at Jinqiao Cadillac China plant

Products

The Jinqiao Cadillac China plant is currently responsible for the production of all Cadillac models offered in the Chinese market, including:

• • Cadillac CT4 luxury sedan (2020-present)
  • Cadillac CT5 luxury sedan (2020-present)
  • Cadillac CT6 full-size luxury sedan (2016-present)
  • Cadillac XT4 subcompact luxury crossover (2019-present)
  • Cadillac XT5 luxury crossover (2016-present)
  • Cadillac XT6 luxury crossover (2019-present)

It’s worth noting that in addition to the aforementioned Cadillac products, the Cadillac Jinqiao plant also produces vehicles for other brands owned and operated by Cadillac’s parent firm, General Motors. See here for more details.

Overview

The Jinqiao Cadillac China plant is the first facility outside of North America to be able to completely build Cadillac models. Prior to its construction, Cadillac models for the Chinese automotive market were built in North America and shipped overseas to the Asian country. This practice resulted in the vehicles being subjected to hefty tariffs, often in excess of 30 percent, therefore pricing them outside of the range that most luxury car buyers were willing to spend, particularly when compared to more affordable rivals that assembled their offerings locally. As a result, Cadillac elected to build a plant in Shanghai to take advantage of the burgeoning Chinese market and to avoid tariffs, furthering its goal of expanding its global brand presence in the process.

Built to “support the growth of the Cadillac luxury brand in China while strengthening [its] overall industry position,” the plant is located in the Jinqiao area of Shanghai, near SAIC-GM corporate headquarters. The facility officially opened on January 21^st, 2016. The first Cadillac model to be produced at the plant was the CT6 large luxury sedan, which was officially introduced in China on January 27^st, 2016. It should be noted that the CT6 has since been discontinued in all other global markets as of 2020, but has remained in production in Jinqiao, where it is still built to this day.

The 477,000 square meter (5,134,385 square foot) state-of-the-art factory plant is the result of an RMB 8 billion ($1.22 billion USD) investment.

Body shop robots at the Jinqiao Cadillac China plant

The plant is currently capable of producing 160,000 individual vehicles every year, and includes a body shop, paint shop, general assembly shop, a high-speed test track and auxiliary facilities. The three shops use various advanced manufacturing technologies and processes:

• • Body shop: the body shop is the first in China that is capable of producing all-aluminum automotive bodies. It is comprised of two fully automated production lines. One is steel, and the other is aluminum, and together, they employ the use of 386 robots. This has also made it the first, and so far only, plant in China to achieve 100 percent automated welding. The body shop operates using Cadillac’s patented mixed-material welding technologies that include resistance spot welding of aluminum, laser brazing of aluminum (a Chinese industry first), which improves the strength of a vehicle’s body by up to 20 percent. The processes implement the use of industry-leading cold body connections, which allow for self-tapping screws and self-piercing rivets. This self-tapping and self-piercing technology enables the high-strength connection of different materials without generating excess smoke and heat.
  • Paint shop: the paint shop at the Cadillac China plant uses an entirely automated line of robots that fully apply paints and coatings. World-leading technologies are at play here, including membrane pretreatment, electrophoretic coating with high throwing power, second color coating and transparent color coating, which provides a translucent finish that is expected of high-end Cadillac vehicles. 
  • General Assembly shop:  the highly flexible and intelligent general assembly shop supports the production of up to seven individual vehicles at one time. The world-class digital assembly facility has incorporated the Internet of Things system, allowing for seamless communication between components to ensure proper torque is applied to every key fastening point. 

Additionally, the Jinqiao Cadillac China plant serves as a “green” benchmark for global vehicle manufacturing: 

• • • The paint shop is the only facility of its kind in China that does not have a concrete chimney. The spray booth exhaust system is considered environmentally friendly, since its dry venturi scrubbers help make the shop nearly 300 percent cleaner than conventional paint shops. This is thanks to a significant reduction in in volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, along with reduced power consumption. 
    • The general assembly shop introduced an industry-leading automatic exhaust collection and pumping system that serves to substantially increase exhaust collection. Additionally, parts in the general assembly shop are distributed on automated guided carts (AGC), which autonomously and efficiently handle the movement of components throughout the factory. 
    • As previously mentioned, the highly flexible and intelligent general assembly shop supports the production of up to seven individual vehicles simultaneously. 

Investments

The Jinqiao Cadillac China plant was built with an investment of RMB 8 billion ($1.22 billion USD).

News

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Pictures