Cadillac sales rose 37% in July. ATS sales performed well during the month.
General Motors Co. sales may have dropped in the U.S. last month, but the automaker posted record sales in China, the company’s largest single market. Conversely Ford Motor Co. reported its sales slipped despite steady growth in sales by the company’s Lincoln brand last month.
GM and its joint ventures reported that retail sales increased 6.3% from a year earlier to 287,581 vehicles. For the year, GM surpassed 2 million deliveries in China as sales in the first seven months totaled 2.05 million units down 1.3% from last year’s pace.
The Buick, Cadillac and Baojun brands reached all-time highs for July sales, while Chevrolet posted growth of 24% on an annual basis. GM’s performance was strong across many segments, with SUVs remaining the biggest riser – generating growth of 50% year over year.
Cadillac sales also increased in July the brand’s 17th consecutive month of double-digit growth, rising 37%. Demand for the XT5 luxury SUV continued to be strong, GM noted, with deliveries exceeding 4,000 units.
(Automakers plead with China to delay EV mandates. For the story, Click Here.)
Meanwhile sales by Buick, the brand that put GM on the map in China were up 4.4% on an annual basis. The company’s China-based partners also contributed significantly, including Baojun which saw deliveries surge 61% year over year to 71,433 units in July.
Ford sold more than 84,000 Vehicles in China in July as Lincoln sales increase 68% year over year versus July 2016. But overall sales by Ford and its Chinese partners dropped by 7%. So far this year, Ford and its partners have sold almost 623,000 vehicles in China down about 7% from 2016.
(Click Here for GM and Ford’s June sales results in China.)
The Ford Mondeo sedan continued growing its popularity among Chinese customers in July with sales increasing of 17% year over year. Sales of vehicles Ford imported vehicles grew by 24% year over year, with strong sales of Mustang increasing 25% compared to July 2016.
“We had strong July sales of JMC, Lincoln and imported Ford branded vehicles all of which experienced double-digit growth,” said Mark Ovenden, vice president, Marketing, Sales & Services Asia Pacific, Ford Motor Co.
(To get the details on Ford’s plans to move Focus production to China, Click Here.)
“Dealership traffic and sales rates also improved in the second half of July. We look forward to sustaining the momentum for Lincoln as well as strengthening our SUV portfolio by introducing the new EcoSport in the second half of 2017.”