GM's July China sales rise 22% amid Chevrolet growth

General Motors Co., the biggest overseas automaker in China, boosted sales in the nation 22 percent in July, aided by the popularity of Chevrolet cars, while deliveries by Ford Motor Co.’s local sales unit fell.

GM sold 176,645 vehicles last month in the world’s largest auto market, after boosting deliveries of Chevrolet vehicles 70 percent to 35,385, the company said in an e-mailed statement today. Sales of GM-brand vehicles rose 45 percent to 1.3 million in the first seven months of the year, it added.

The carmaker is counting on expansion in China and other overseas markets to bolster profit as it prepares for an initial public offering as early as the fourth quarter. GM’s first-half sales in China surpassed those in the U.S. for the first time this year as the world’s fastest-growing major economy propelled global auto demand.

“GM has been doing the right things by tapping demand growth in smaller cities with smaller cars,” said Han Weiqi, an analyst at CSC International Holdings Ltd. in Shanghai. “When overall demand growth slows in the second half, companies deploying the wrong approaches will be hit much harder.”

Ford’s Sales Decline

Changan Ford Sales Co., the Chinese sales unit of Ford, delivered 18,255 vehicles in July, it said in statement today. Sales in July 2009 by Changan Ford totaled 19,486, the automaker said on its website last year.

Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., which makes cars with Ford in China, fell 3.1 percent, the most in more than two weeks, to close at 10.20 yuan in Shenzhen trading today.

China’s total passenger car sales to consumers rose 15.4 percent last month to 822,300, the China Automotive Technology & Research Center said yesterday. Vehicle demand may weaken in August, the center said.

GM, which makes vehicles including Buick Excelle cars and Chevrolet Cruze compacts with its Chinese joint-venture partner SAIC Motor Co. in China, has added new models at a much faster pace than Ford, CSC’s Han said.

GM, based in Detroit, is refreshing its lineup in China with new models such as the Chevrolet Sail compact and Buick Excelle GT small sedan, the automaker said last month.

The company also makes Sunshine minivans at SAIC-GM-Wuling Automotive Co., a separate joint venture in which the U.S. automaker has a 34 percent stake.