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SAIC-GM-Wuling（上汽通用五菱）unveiled its Global 5 strategy at the 23rd China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning on September 17, announcing cooperation with Malaysia’s Tan Chong Group（陈唱集团）to deepen its regional supply chain. Battery localisation is an early initiative under the plan, although the Malaysian disclosure places the proposed production cooperation at the feasibility stage.
SAIC-GM-Wuling
The strategy gives overseas partners five cooperation options: trade, distribution, integrated production and sales, full value-chain cooperation, and technology licensing. Its three-year targets include deepening its presence across 150 countries, adding 500 strategic partners and achieving average annual sales growth of 50 percent. These are company ambitions rather than secured orders or established market coverage, with ASEAN positioned as a base for broader international expansion.
The battery initiative has a more specific contractual structure. TQ Manufacturing Sdn Bhd, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Tan Chong Motor Holdings, signed a memorandum of understanding with Saike REPT Power Battery System Co Ltd（赛克瑞浦）to explore Malaysian production of EV battery packs and selected components. Effective for one year from September 17, the MOU covers assessment of localisation opportunities, potential exports and battery lifecycle management. It establishes a framework for evaluating cooperation, rather than confirming a factory investment or production timetable.
Saike already supplies battery packs for TQ Wuling vehicles assembled in Malaysia. Local assembly of the Bingo EV began at Tan Chong’s Segambut facility in January 2026, giving the proposed battery cooperation an existing vehicle programme to support. The initiative would therefore extend localisation into components, building on an assembly operation already in place.
SAIC-GM-Wuling says its cumulative overseas exports have exceeded 1.6 million vehicles and kits, following ten consecutive years of export growth. That combined measure reflects an international business spanning finished vehicles and assembly kits, with Indonesia serving as an established manufacturing base since 2017.
For Chinese automakers expanding in ASEAN, the commercial opportunity lies in supplying more of the production system around the vehicle: components, manufacturing processes and technical support. G5 also includes technology licensing as a cooperation option, potentially widening the ways Wuling can work with local partners.
Malaysia will test whether that approach makes economic sense beyond vehicle assembly. Local battery-pack production needs sufficient demand, consistent quality and competitive procurement costs. Tan Chong brings an operating manufacturing network, but the feasibility work must establish whether adding battery operations improves that network’s economics. The MOU advances that assessment; investment and operating results remain the next milestones.
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