GM China '08 sales up 6.1% to 1.09mln units

Shanghai, January 7 (Gasgoo.com) GM China announced yesterday that General Motors sold 1,094,561 vehicles in China in 2008, up 6.1% from 2007. It is the first global automaker that sold over one million vehicles in China last year, xinhuanet.com said today.

The Chevrolet and Wuling brands saw the biggest growth in sales of GM China last year. In 2008, there were 199,155 China-made Chevrolet cars sold, up 15.7% year on year, and SAIC-GM-Wuling sold 606,499 Wuling-brand vehicles, up 17.4% y/y.

Sales at GM's joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp -- Shanghai GM -- fell 7.03% to 445,709 units, which the U.S. automaker blamed in part on a lack of new models. The rapid sales growth of GM's another Chinese venture SAIC-GM-Wuling have offset the sales drop of Shanghai GM.

In 2008, the full-year sales of SAIC-GM-Wuling reached 647,296 units, growing by 17.9% from 2007 and leading China's mini-car makers in sales for the third straight year.

GM China said that its stable sales performance in China, the world's second largest auto market, has become the U.S. automaker's "powerful weapon" to combat the slump in global auto sales.

GM, which just won a $4-billion bailout loan, is counting on emerging markets for growth. It expects to boost China sales by 9% to 1.2 million units in 2009 as new models and the Chinese government's stimulus plan will revive market demand.