General Motors Sets Sales Record in China in 2011

General Motors and its joint-ventures sold a record 2,547,171 vehicles in China in 2011, an average of one car or truck every 12 seconds in its largest global market. GM’s sales were up 8.3 per cent from the previous high of 2,351,610 vehicles sold in 2010.

GM’s Shanghai GM and SAIC-GM-Wuling
joint-ventures along with all of its passenger car brands experienced record domestic demand, enabling GM to remain the sales leader among global automakers in China for the seventh consecutive year.

“GM stayed ahead of the competition despite a slowdown in the growth of industry demand thanks to our broad portfolio of appealing vehicles,” said Kevin Wale, President and Managing Director of the GM China Group. Further added, “GM and our joint ventures introduced 12 new models in 2011 while expanding our manufacturing and product development capability to meet rising demand.”

Rising Sales
Shanghai GM was China’s passenger car sales leader in 2011. It sold 1,200,355 vehicles in the domestic market, an increase of 16.2 per cent from 2010. SAIC-GM-Wuling was the domestic sales leader among mini-commercial vehicle manufacturers. It sold 1,285,820 vehicles in China last year, a rise of 4.8 per cent on an annual basis. FAW-GM sold 56,132 vehicles in China in its second full year of doing business.

Among GM brands, Buick sold a record 645,537 vehicles, an increase of 17.4 per cent year on year. It benefited from record demand of 253,514 units for its Excelle passenger car lineup. In addition, sales of the Excelle XT hatchback and Excelle GT sedan reached 134,800 units, and sales of the LaCrosse sedan totaled 103,366 units.

In 2011, Chevrolet sales in China rose 9.4 per cent year on year to an all-time high of 595,068 units. The Cruze sedan remained the brand’s best-selling model, generating sales of 221,196 units. It was followed by the New Sail family, with 166,693 sales.

Cadillac also made the record book on sales of 30,008 units in 2011, an increase of 72.8 per cent from the previous year, as sales of the SRX luxury utility vehicle totaled nearly 20,000 units. GM’s imported Opel brand had sales of 4,864 units, up 51.1 per cent from 2010. The new Antara SUV was the best-selling Opel model in China.

The Wuling brand generated all-time domestic sales of 1,193,708 units, for 3.9 per cent growth. The Sunshine minivan accounted for 48.0 per cent of Wuling sales. The new Baojun passenger car brand, which entered the market in August 2011, ended the year with sales of 21,854 units.

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