GM launches all-out 'product offensive' in China

SHANGHAI (AFP) — US automaker General Motors has unveiled an "unprecedented" number of new models in China, where it has gone on the offensive as it faces bankruptcy at home, state media reported Thursday.

GM and its local partners are trying to keep an edge in China, the world's second largest market after the United States, as they exhibit 24 models at this week's Guangzhou International Auto Show, the China Daily said.

"The vehicles on display are part of a product offensive that will see us roll out an unprecedented number of new and upgraded models over the coming two years," GM's China chief executive Kevin Wale was quoted as saying.

GM's new offerings for the Chinese market include the Buick Enclave SUV, Chevrolet Cruze sedan and Cadillac CTS-V.

Although growth is slowing in China, the market is crucial for GM , which sold more than 60 percent of its cars outside the US in the third quarter.

Between July and September, GM's worldwide sales fell 11.4 percent to 2.12 million vehicles.

GM's China sales grew 10.2 percent year-on-year in the first nine months to 830,480 vehicles, the newspaper reported.

However, some GM rivals say they are growing even faster. Toyota Motor senior managing director Sasaki Akira told the newspaper his company expected sales to rise by 20 percent this year to 600,000.

Ford, which launched new versions of its Fiesta compact and Volvo brand S80 sedan, said its financial troubles in the United States would not affect its expansion in China.

"We will continue to introduce new products and invest more in China with our profits from local operations," Ford China spokesman Kenneth Hsu was quoted as saying.

The annual Guangzhou event in southern China, which ends on November 25, is one of the country's three biggest auto shows.