China Buying More GM Cars Than America

 

Vietnam

NEWSMAX
VERBATIM

General Motors sold more cars in China last year than in the United States — nearly 3.2 million vehicles compared to 2.78 million in America.

GM sales in China were up 11.4 percent in 2013 compared to the previous year. The company sold an average of one vehicle every 10 seconds and nearly 9,000 a day, according to a report from MSN's Detroit Bureau.

Most GM cars sold in China are manufactured locally by GM and its 10 joint ventures there. The first China-built GM car, a Buick, was produced in 1998, and the Cadillac was introduced in 2004.

Buick sales in China rose 15.7 percent, finishing 2013 at an all-time high of 809,918 vehicles, while Cadillac sales were up 66.6 percent to a record 50,005 vehicles.

But rival carmaker Volkswagen is expected to outpace GM in China sales. Like GM, Volkswagen sells more cars in China than in its home market of Germany and the European Union.

One of GM's joint ventures, Shanghai GM, sold a record 1.512 million vehicles last year. The company has broken ground for a new Cadillac plant.

China now has 4,250 dealerships nationwide.

"GM maintained good growth momentum in our company's largest market, despite a modest slowdown in demand for commercial vehicles," said Matt Tsien, president of GM China. "We expect sales to remain robust in 2014, driven by ongoing strong demand across China for personal four-wheel transportation."

Sales of Ford Motor Company vehicles also surged last year, rising 49 percent to 935,813 units, while Toyota sold 917,500.

Postscript: GM began making Chevrolets in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 1993.