In China, Sail and Cruze help GM's Chevy sales soar

The China map on Kevin Wale's conference room wall is filled with dozens of colored pins representing places he's been.

Wale, president of GM's China operations, pointed to the provinces west of Shanghai, the places the Detroit automaker hopes to conquer next as the battle for the growing middle class intensifies with domestic automakers.

"China's not a country. It's countries within countries," he said, pointing to provinces near Shanghai with populations the size of stand-alone nations. "These are massive populations."

While Shanghai and Beijing are becoming common names in the U.S., there are about 100 cities in China with 1 million residents or more. And the number of those 1-million-plus cities is expected to double in the next 15 years.

Those second- and third-tier cities are expected to be the next battlegrounds for auto sales in China, experts said.

"You're not going to get tremendous growth out of Shanghai and Beijing; those are pretty much saturated," said Tim Dunne, an expert on China at J.D. Power and Associates.

GM launched its Chevrolet brand five years ago in China in hopes of appealing to ever-growing middle-class shoppers intent on buying not only their first car but their second as well. The company has opened 200 Chevy stores within the past 18 months and said it expects to open 100 more this year.

Wale -- who expects GM to sell more than 2 million vehicles in China this year, four years ahead of schedule -- told the Free Press in an interview this spring that sales of 3 million a year could be achieved prior to a stated 2015 goal, depending upon market conditions.

GM China, the fastest-growing part of the company, outsold the U.S. sector during the first quarter of 2010 by about 150,000 vehicles. Asked whether GM China would outsell the U.S. for the first time this year, Wale demurred. "It will be close this year."