GM Sets Feb Sales Record in China

[Bruce Nunnally]

Shanghai – General Motors and its joint ventures in China set a new record for the month of February, selling 174,306 vehicles. This represented an increase of 51.0 percent from the same month last year.

Shanghai GM’s sales in February rose 65.7 percent on an annual basis to 58,182 units. SAIC-GM-Wuling sales were up 37.7 percent to 110,315 units. FAW-GM, which was established in August 2009, sold 5,797 light commercial vehicles in February.

Among GM brands, demand for Chevrolet vehicles was up 164.8 percent to 40,091 units in February, while demand for Shanghai GM’s lineup of Cadillac luxury vehicles jumped 219.5 percent to more than 900 units. Buick sales also continued to grow, reaching 27,586 units – an 11.4 percent increase from the same month last year.

Sales of the Chevrolet Spark mini-car, which features the award-winning P-TEC 1.2 engine, jumped 103.7 percent to 10,405 units. Sales of the Chevrolet Cruze lower-medium sedan introduced last April totaled 13,515 units in February. Demand for the Chevrolet Epica intermediate sedan remained robust as well, rising 118.9 percent to over 5,000 units. Another Chevrolet model, the Aveo hatchback, registered sales growth in February of 135.1 percent. This testifies to the popularity of GM’s fuel-efficient products.

Demand for Cadillac’s locally built SLS luxury business sedan was up 94.2 percent on an annual basis to 200 units. Buick saw a surge in demand of 436.8 percent for the Park Avenue premium sedan.

For the first two months of 2010, GM’s sales in China rose 73.6 percent from a year earlier to a record 393,498 units.

“Our February sales numbers exceeded our expectations despite the Spring Festival holiday,” said Kevin Wale, President and Managing Director of the GM China Group. “The continued strong market demand portends another record year for both the industry and GM in China in 2010.”