GM plans to invest $3-4 bln in Asia-Pacific

JAKARTA (Reuters) - U.S. auto giant General Motors Corp GM.N expects to invest $3-4 billion in the Asia-Pacific region in the next three-four years, GM's Asia-Pacific president said on Thursday, as the company loses market share at home.

The automaker has been struggling in the United States -- its largest and historically most profitable market -- but has been growing overseas, including the Asia-Pacific where car sales have been rising.

"The main investment in the last three years around Asia-Pacific has been around $3-4 billion, we are intending to continue in about that rate, so about $3-4 billion," David Nick Reilly told reporters.

"Overall, we expect the global automotive industry to grow again in 2008, particularly driven by Asia. As for GM itself, I would expect it will grow again in 2008, driven particularly from this region," he said.

"The Asian economy would continue to show good growth over the next three-four years even with the slowing U.S. economy. The U.S. economy is no longer the main engine of growth of the global economy."

GM's annual sales in North America, its largest region by volume, fell 6.1 percent last year, hurt by high gasoline prices, a weak housing market, a subprime meltdown and a planned reduction in daily rental sales.

This compared to sales in the Asia-Pacific region which rose 15.1 percent last year led by China.

GM on Wednesday reported worldwide sales of 9.37 million vehicles in 2007, up 3 percent from a year earlier and coming in just ahead of Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) in a closely watched race for the top spot in global sales.

GM's chief sales analyst, Mike DiGiovanni, said on Wednesday the automaker faced capacity constraints in China and Latin America and "could have sold more" if it could have increased production.

(Reporting By Muhamad Al Azhari, editing by Sugita Katyal)