GM sales rise 7.1% in 2016 behind Cadillac, Buick and Baojun gains

SHANGHAI -- General Motors' China deliveries increased 7.1 percent year on year to top 3.87 million vehicles in 2016 as strong sales of the Cadillac, Buick and Baojun brands more than offset weak deliveries at Chevrolet and Wuling.
Despite an overall gain for the year, GM may have lost share in the Chinese light-vehicle market. In the first 11 months of 2016, China's light-vehicle sales advanced 16 percent from a year earlier to approach 21.7 million. 
December light-vehicle deliveries in the country have yet to be disclosed.
Last year, two new models -- the CT6 sedan and XT5 crossover -- helped Cadillac deliver 116,406 vehicles in China, an increase of 46 percent from 2015.  
Led by the Excelle GT sedan and the Envision crossover, Buick's China sales advanced 19 percent year on year to exceed 1.18 million vehicles.
Baojun deliveries surged 49 percent to 688,390 vehicles on demand for the 730 MPV, 560 crossover and the 310 hatchback.
By contrast, Chevrolet deliveries fell 14 percent to 525,273 vehicles despite the launch of the Malibu XL, Cavalier and upgraded Cruze sedans during the year.
Sales at Wuling, China's largest microvan brand, declined 7 percent to below 1.4 million vehicles as the microvan market continued to shrink.
In 2016, China remained GM's largest market for the fifth straight year, representing more than one-third of its global sales, the company said.
The Detroit automaker didn't disclose December sales results for China.