The remarkable success story that is General Motors in China continued at a rapid pace last month.
The company, along with its joint ventures, posted record sales in May buoyed by strong demand for the Chevrolet brand.
Its sales in the first five months of the year in China have now reached 1,032,665 units – that’s a 53.9 per cent increase compared to the first five months of 2009 and a new record. By comparison, on its home turf in the USA, GM sales reached 885,141 units during the first five months of the year – that in itself, representing a 13.8 per cent increase compared to the prior year.
Chevrolet has been the dominant force with sales jumping 103.6 per cent. There has been strong demand for the Cruze lower-medium saloon car, which saw sales jump 112.5 per cent to 14,524 units; while the Epica intermediate saloon car also enjoyed sales growth of 114.6 per cent to 5,764 units. Meanwhile, during just its fifth month on the market, the New Sail small car registered sales of 7,616 units.
Sales of Buick models jumped 22.0 per cent on an annual basis with the Excelle lower-medium family, the new LaCROSSE and New Regal enjoying combined sales of around 40,000 units. Demand for Cadillac products meanwhile grew by a whopping 98.1 per cent.
Elsewhere, joint venture Shanghai GM saw sales reach 83,302 units – an increase of 48.7 per cent; while SAIC-GM-Wuling sales rose by 5.2 per cent to 105,395 units. FAW-GM products totalled 6,773 units during the joint venture’s first May reporting sales; while even the import brand Opel enjoyed a resurgence in demand of 214.1 per cent.
