The Chevy Sail is Chevrolet's second-best selling vehicle in China behind the Cruze.
General Motors, which could use a bit of good news these days, is off to a fast start in the Chinese market where GM’s total sales could top 1 million units by the middle of April as the auto giant and its partners fight to regain the leadership in China from rival Volkswagen AG.
GM and its joint ventures had record sales in China during March and the first quarter of 2014 sales in March increased 7.8%, raising GM’s domestic sales in China during the first quarter to 919,114 units – an increase of 12.6% from the same period a year ago.
The automaker posted record sales of 3.2 million units in 2013 and the strong first quarter sales leave it on track to hit 3.6 million units.
With auto sales capped because of intense air pollution in large cities mega-cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, much of GM’s recent growth has been concentrated in so-called third- and fourth-tier cities beyond the coastal provinces where demand among first-time buyers in very strong.
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The Chinese economy also is making the transition from the rapid expansion of recent years to a more restrained growth. But the slowing tempo of growth has not has not crippled the Chinese automotive market, which continues to expand. China is already the world’s largest automotive market and sales and total sales are expected to exceed 20 million units again this year.
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Shanghai GM’s domestic sales last month rose 10.5% on an annual basis to a March record. SAIC-GM-Wuling’s domestic sales rose 6.1% to a March record 164,539 units. FAW-GM’s domestic sales rose 2.2%.
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Leading the way for Shanghai GM was Buick, which had record March domestic sales of 78,803 units, an increase of 12.4% year. Chevrolet sales in the domestic market grew 5.7% on an annual basis in March to 56,036 units. Its best-selling model was the Cruze, which saw a sales increase of 39.6%. Following the Cruze was the Sail.
Cadillac sales in China were a March record 5,238 units. Demand for the luxury brand jumped 44.3% on an annual basis, as sales of the XTS increased 22.6%. Wuling sales in China increased 7.9% from last.