General Motors Company (GM) will invest $1 billion in the next few years to turn operations in India into a new global auto manufacturing and export hub aimed at boosting sales in fast-growing emerging markets, top executives said on Wednesday.

The investment is part of GM's plan to invest $5 billion over several years to develop a global family of Chevrolet vehicles with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC), the state-owned Chinese automaker that is GM's primary partner in China.

GM chief executive officer Mary Barra said at a briefing in New Delhi that the investment in India was expected to create 12,000 jobs at the company and its suppliers in Asia's third-largest economy.

GM will also launch 10 new domestically manufactured vehicles in India over the next five years in a push to double its market share in the country by 2020, Stefan Jacoby, GM's chief of international operations, told a news conference.

GM sold 56,700 vehicles in India in 2014 and had a market share of 1.8 per cent. - Reuters