GM China Feb sales up 51% to 174,306 vehicles

Shanghai, March 3 (Gasgoo.com) General Motors said today that its vehicle sales last month in China rose 51% from a year earlier on strong demand for Chevrolet and Cadillac models as well as its popular minivans, AP reported.

The 174,306 vehicles sold by GM and its China ventures in February was a company record for the month, though well below the 219,192 vehicles (up 97%) sold in January, the U.S. auto giant said, due to slower sales during the Lunar New Year holiday in mid-Feb, and also softening demand for small cars.

"Our February sales numbers exceeded our expectations despite the Spring Festival holiday," said Kevin Wale, president and managing director for GM China Group. "The continued strong market demand portends another record year for both the industry and GM in China in 2010."

Sales by GM's flagship car venture in China, Shanghai GM, climbed 65.7% to 58,182 units, with demand for Chevrolet models accounting for more than 40,000 of that total. Sales of Cadillacs more than tripled to over 900 units.

The big sales were still achieved by SAIC-GM-Wuling, GM's mini-vehicle venture, which sold 110,315 units, up 37.7% year on year. It benefited from the government's tax cuts and subsidies for small vehicle purchases.

In the first two months of the year, GM's sales in China surged nearly 74% from a year earlier to 393,498 units. This year GM China aims to sell over 2 million vehicles, up from 1.83 million in 2009.