China Sales Propel Buick to Global Sales Record

Buick delivered 1,032,056 vehicles in China, the United States, Canada and Mexico during 2013, the most Buicks sold in the brand’s 110-year history. The previous annual record was 1,003,345 in 1984. The difference between the two record years is China, where the GM brand did not exist in 1984. Now, China at more than 800,000 units outsells the U.S. by 4:1. China had a 15.7% sales gain, while the U.S. delivered a 13.9% sales increase. Canada at 14,000 saw sales increase 9.5% over 2012.

China sales were the only reason the Buick brand was kept by U.S. Treasury officials while they were killing Pontiac and Hummer during the 2009 taxpayer-financed GM bankruptcy reorganization. Buick’s U.S. sales that year were 102,00.

The new Encore small crossover ended 2013 with 97,311 sales globally, while the gigantic eight-passenger Enclave saw sales grow 6.5% in North America. In Canada, (14,000 total) Verano sales grew by 9.6% in 2013 versus 2012. Exclusive to China, the GL8 posted an annual sales gain of 9.7%. Mexico sold 2,300 Buicks.

In the sedan segment, the China-exclusive compact Excelle again dominated the compact sedan segment, delivering 6.9% sales growth. The Excelle GT and Verano compact sedans combined globally to deliver a 16.3% gain, while sales of the Excelle XT hatchback, sold only in China, were up 17.5%.