Shanghai, May 14 (Gasgoo.com) SAIC-GM-Wuling, a leader in China's mini-van market, expects to sell 1.23 million vehicles this year, up 16%. For this target, Wuling-brand vehicles may sell 1.15 million units, and Chevrolet Spark car sales may come to 80,000, media reported.
Last month, sales of SAIC-GM-Wuling, General Motors' mini-vehicle venture which mostly makes Wuling brand mini vans and pickup trucks, grew 19.4 % from a year earlier to 114,101 units, leading China's passenger vehicle makers in April sales. Sales in the first four months exceeded 440,000 units, up 42%.
In 2009, SAIC-GM-Wuling became the first auto producer in China to sell more than 1 million vehicles in a year, increasing its domestic sales by 63.9% to 1,061,213 units. The Wuling Sunshine, with sales of 596,630 units, set a Chinese record for annual sales by a single car model.
At the recent launch of its new Wuling SunShine, a top executive of SAIC-GM-Wuling revealed that the hot-selling Wuling minivans would likely enter India first after SAIC became a major shareholder of GM's Indian unit.
GM expects to sell more than two million vehicles in China in 2010, up at least 13%, with more than half of the sales volume still to be achieved by the three-way venture SAIC-GM-Wuling, in which GM holds 34% share.
