The Baojun 630 has been targeting the next wave of new Chinese car buyers.
With the Chinese economy showing new signs of life after an unexpected slowdown, General Motors and its joint venture partners have set an all-time record, selling more than 300,000 vehicles in a single month for the first time during January.
If the pace is sustained over the next 11 months, GM estimates sales in China could top 3.5 million units.
During GM’s best-ever January in China, sales totaled 310,765 units, an increase of 26% from the same month in 2012 and 15.9% above the previous all-time monthly high of 268,035 units in January 2011.
Domestic sales by Shanghai GM and SAIC-GM-Wuling, and their Buick, Chevrolet and Wuling brands all set new single-month records as well in January, GM reported.
Shanghai GM sold 154,220 vehicles in China, an increase of 24.3% year on year. SAIC-GM-Wuling sold 151,819 vehicles, as domestic demand for its products increased 26.6% on an annual basis. Demand in China for FAW-GM’s products increased 84.5% on an annual basis to 4,490 units.
Buick sales in China rose 21.7% from the first month of 2012 to 86,509 units. Its best seller in January was the original Excelle passenger car lineup, which generated demand of 30,264 units, an increase of 5.5%. Buick also continued to enjoy strong demand for the Excelle XT and GT, which experienced sales growth of 19.7% to 23,694 units. In addition, the Encore SUV had sales of 7,881 units in its first January in the marketplace.
Buick now sell roughly six times as many cars in China as it does in the U.S. Buick now sell roughly six times as many cars in China as it does in the U.S.
Chevrolet sales in the domestic market rose 21.6% year on year to 66,141 units in January. The brand’s most popular model was the Cruze. Its sales grew 7.8% to 24,477 units. Sales of the Sail family also remained strong, increasing 21.0% to 21,866 units.
Cadillac luxury vehicle sales in China totaled 1,570 units in January. Cadillac is just beginning a serious roll-out in what is becoming the world’s fastest-growing luxury car market. It expects demand to increase sharply once it starts producing the new ATS sedan in China.
GM, however, also uses several other brands across China. Baojun, GM’s new entry-level passenger car brand in China, had sales of 7,018 units.
Sales by Wuling, one of GM’s most important partners, totaled 144,801 units in January, which was up 35.9% from the same month last year. Its best-selling model was the Hong Guang, whose sales grew 158.9% to 47,765 units. The Sunshine also had robust sales of 45,733 units.