Shanghai GM sales in January exceed 161000 units

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai February 5) - Shanghai General Motors' first sales performance review for 2013 was released earlier this week, Gasgoo.com (Chinese) reported today. According to the review, Shanghai GM sold a total of 161,426 vehicles in January. The figure, which represents year-on-year growth of 26.7 percent, marks a new monthly sales record for a passenger automobile manufacturer in China. The sales result signifies that Shanghai GM is on to a good start this year.

Buick sales made up 86,509 of the joint venture's total sales last month. The figure, which is 21.7 percent than the one reported last January, represents a new record for the brand in China. The newly released Encore subcompact SUV (pictured above) was very popular, with its sales in January totaling 7,881 units, nearly double from the previous month. January sales of Buick's two flagship luxury vehicles, the Regal and the Yinglang Excelle XT, totaled 9,707 units and 5,821 units, respectively. Monthly sales of the LaCrosse midsize and the Yinglang Excelle GT compact respectively totaled 9,271 units and 17,873 units. Meanwhile, the first generation Buick Excelle, which is sold under the Kaiyue name, managed to bring in 30,264 orders.

Sales of Chevrolet models were also notably high, with a total of 73,347 vehicles sold last month, up 37.4 percent from January 2011. Combined sales of Chevy's two midsizes, the Malibu and the Captiva SUV (pictured below), totaled 12,294 units over the month. Sales of the latter were helped by a new sales promotion the JV implemented in seven cities for the Chinese New Year. The Cruze compact managed to bring in 24,477 orders, meaning that January is the model's best selling month in over four years. Sales of the family-oriented Sail last month totaled 29,063 units, representing year-on-year growth of 35.6 percent. 7,206 of those sales were made overseas, making the Cruze one of the country's most successful automobile exports. 5,471 Aveo subcompacts were sold, representing year-on-year sales growth of 34.6 percent.

Retail sales of the JV's luxury Cadillac brand reached 2,972 units in January.