General Motors (GM) has opened a new Cadillac plant at its SAIC-GM joint venture in Shanghai, with the start of production of the CT6 luxury sedan.

The state-of-the-art manufacturing facility will support the growth of the Cadillac luxury brand in China while strengthening GM’s overall industry position.

GM’s executive VP and president of GM China, 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.”

The automaker invested US$ 1.22 billion (Rs 7,700 crore) in the 477,000 square-metre Cadillac plant. It has a planned annual capacity of 160,000 units. The plant includes a body shop, a paint shop, a general assembly shop, a high-speed test track and auxiliary facilities.

The paint shop is the only facility of its kind in China without a concrete chimney. The environmentally friendly spray booth exhaust treatment system and dry venturi scrubbers make the shop nearly 300 percent cleaner than conventional paint shops, with significantly reduced volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and power consumption.

The general assembly shop likewise introduced an industry-leading automatic exhaust collection and pumping system that substantially increases exhaust collection. The plant thus serves as a “green” benchmark for vehicle manufacturing.

Cadillac is set to officially introduce the CT6 in China on January 27.