GM continues to gain ground in China with products like the Buick Excelle.
Slowing car sales have not bothered General Motors and its joint ventures in China – which now appear on track to set another all-time record for 2012.
GM reported it sold 257,944 vehicles in March in China and 745,152 vehicles during the first quarter of 2012, setting records for both March and the first quarter.
GM’s domestic Chinese sales in March were up 10.7% from the same month in 2011. They were the second-highest for any month in GM’s history in China. For the first three months as a whole, its domestic sales increased 8.7%, the best quarter since GM began doing business in China a dozen years ago, the auto giant reported.
“GM has maintained our growth in our largest market in 2012, despite an overall industry slowdown,” said Kevin Wale, president and managing director of the GM China Group. “Our new models, such as the Chevrolet Malibu, have gotten off to a solid start, complementing the ongoing strength of established products such as the Buick Excelle, Chevrolet Cruze and Cadillac SRX.”
Shanghai GM’s domestic sales increased 10.5% on an annual basis to 110,038 units. SAIC-GM-Wuling’s sales in China increased 11.6% year on year to 139,768 units. FAW-GM’s domestic sales in March totaled 7,417 units. Sales at all three GM joint ventures were up from the previous month.
Helping drive GM’s momentum, the Detroit maker and its Chinese partners recently launched the all-new Baojun brand to target first-time buyers in the Asian nation’s second- and third-tier cities.
Demand for Buick products rose 3.7% on an annual basis to a March record 57,082 units. The brand was led by the Excelle, whose sales jumped 25.4% to 24,134 units, and the Excelle XT and GT, which had a collective sales increase of 22.7% to 14,064 units.
Chevrolet sales in China rose 11.1% year on year to a March record 54,716 units. The New Sail was the brand’s best-selling model, with demand for the sedan and hatchback rising 55.5% to 20,085 units. The Cruze remained a popular model as well, with sales growing 7.7% to 18,678 units. Sales of the Malibu totaled 4,289 units in its first full month on the market.
Cadillac continued its strong run in March, as sales increased 35.2% on an annual basis to a monthly record of 2,745 units. The SRX accounted for 2,143 of the luxury brand’s unit sales. Wuling sales in China were up 9.9% on an annual basis to an all-time monthly record 130,251 units.
Whether GM can maintain its first-quarter pace remains to be seen. The Chinese market has begun to show some weakness in recent months after a decade of strong, double-digit growth. But the slowdown varies by sector and region of the country. Luxury makers, in particular, are facing potential problems, competition forcing sometimes severe discounting. Mercedes-Benz, for example, has been cutting the price of the S-Class line by as much as 25% in recent weeks, though other high-line makers are holding course.
Few expect the market to tailspin but most observers anticipate a definite slowdown in the months ahead.