GM's China sales rise 28.8% in 2010

Shanghai January 4 (Gasgoo.com) General Motors' vehicle sales in China rose 28.8 percent to a record 2,351,610 units in 2010, winning its sixth consecutive race to take the lead in the Chinese automotive market among the international auto manufacturers, reported Gasgoo.com.

As the first foreign automaker to break the 2 million sales mark, GM launched 11 new or upgraded models in the world's larget auto market last year, said Kevin Wale, President and Managing Director of the GM China Group. "Over the next 12 months, GM will continue to grow our presence in China through the introduction of cutting-edge products like the Chevrolet Volt and the start of sale of the Baojun passenger car brand. We will also continue to grow our manufacturing capability while addressing the sustainable development of China's automotive industry. This is all part of our ongoing commitment to working in China, with China, for China," he added.

The U.S. automaker's global Chevrolet brand saw sales jump 63.4 percent in China last year to 544,000 units, of which Cruze sales soared 103.6 percent year on year to 188,000 units, while sales of the new Sail small car, launched early last year, reached nearly 130,000 units, GM said in a statement.

Sales of the Buick brand climbed 23 percent from a year earlier to 550,000 units in China in 2010, when GM's luxury brand Cadillac reported sales of 17,000 units, up 139 percent from a year ago. The auto giant's luxury business sedan, the Cadillac SLS, recorded sales of more than 5,000 units in China last year, a year-on-year increase of 70.6 percent, according to the statement.

Sales at GM's passenger vehicle joint venture, Shanghai General Motors Corp., went up 42 percent to 1,033,307 million units in 2010. 

GM's mini-commercial vehicle joint venture, SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co., witnessed a sales growth of 15.6 percent during last year, selling 1,226,860 vehicles in total, of which sales of the Wuling brand were 1.15 million units, up 14.8 percent on the year, while the Wuling Sunshine brand sold 669,000 units.

GM's new light commercial vehicle joint venture with FAW Group Corp. sold 88,224 vehicles in the past year.