Volkswagen AG’s various operations in China have combined to build up a significant lead over rival General Motors even as both companies chalked up double-digit sales increases during the first eight months of 2014.
Volkswagen's plants in China are still churning out new vehicles as the maker enjoyed a double-digit sales increase through August.
The VW Group’s Chinese sales have grown by 16.5% so far this year and now total 2.4 million units, giving VW a lead of roughly 140,000 units over its chief competitor. The strong sales in China also have helped the VW Group increases sales so far this despite what Christian Klinger, the executive in charge of VW sales worldwide, described as a “tense economic environment.”
So far this year, sales the VW Group, which includes VW, Audi, Porsche, Skoda, Seat, Lamborghini and Rolls Royce, are up 5.6%.
GM said it posted a strong performance during August taking its sales in China for the first eight months of the year to 2,261,194 units, an increase of 11.1% on an annual basis and a record for the period. Shanghai GM’s domestic sales rose 9.4% to 1,069,948 units, SAIC-GM-Wuling’s sales grew 13.9% to 1,158,174 units and FAW-GM’s sales were down 9.8% to 32,760 vehicles, GM reported.
Between them, GM and VW control better than 20% of the fast-growing Chinese market, which is the largest in the world and continues to expand. VW’s edge in China is expected to help make it the world’s largest automaker by 2021 passing GM and Toyota, according to IHS Automotive.
The Volkswagen brand has done particularly well in China, selling 1.83 million vehicles, which is up 17.1% from 1.56 million units. Audi also posted appreciable growth in China as sales increased 16.4% to 364,100, which is substantially more than it sold in the U.S. where it sold a little more than 116,000 units during the same period.
Porsche increased sales by more than 12% to 119,800 vehicles through August, including 37,500 in the Asia-Pacific region, which includes China.
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GM and its joint ventures in China had their third-best month of 2014 in August. Their domestic sales rose 14% on an annual basis to 280,178 units, setting a new record for the month.
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Shanghai GM and SAIC-GM-Wuling as well as their Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Wuling and Baojun brands reached new highs for August sales. Shanghai GM’s domestic sales rose 6% from August 2013 to 129,547 units.
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SAIC-GM-Wuling sold 148,555 vehicles in China, an increase of 24.1% year on year. FAW-GM sold 2,076 vehicles in the domestic market last month, which was down 38.3% from the previous August. During the first eight months of 2014, Buick sales rose 9.7% year-over-year to 587,361 units, Chevrolet sales were up 5.2% to 436,969 units and Cadillac sales increased 64.4%.