If Chinese sales more than double – it’s a good bet – China would dominate GM’s volume unheard of since GM had almost 60% share in the U.S. market in 1960.
Both General Motors and Ford Motor finished 2011 with strong performances in China, the world’s largest automarket for the past three years. GM and its joint ventures sold a record 2,547,171 vehicles up 8.3% from the previous high of 2,351,610 vehicles sold in 2010. Ford posted 519,390 vehicles sold, compared to 483,288 in 2010, an increase of 7%.
GM stayed as the Number One sales leader in China for the seventh consecutive year. GM and its Communist government mandated joint ventures introduced 12 new models in 2011. Ford is playing catch-up and remains a tiny player in the booming Chinese auto economy. However, Ford and its mandated partners are currently adding four new plants in China, including a vehicle assembly plant in Chongqing that will come online in 2012.
Not all is sanguine in China. There’s a trade war looming though over high Chinese tariffs and the value of its currency. In December China’s Ministry of Commerce imposed a new tax on cars imported from the United States ranging between 2%-21.5%, with the rate increasing as the size of the vehicle’s engine increases above 2.5 liters. The Chinese government said this is to offset “unfair government subsidies” and a policy of dumping in the market – a laughable charge that is likely to be challenged at WTO by the U.S. (See U.S. Treasury Says China Continues to Undervalue its Currency)
Shanghai GM was China’s passenger car sales leader in 2011 – 1,200,355 vehicles in the domestic market, an increase of 16.2% from 2010. SAIC-GM-Wuling was the domestic sales leader among mini-commercial vehicle manufacturers. It sold 1,285,820 vehicles in China last year, a rise of 4.8% on an annual basis. FAW-GM sold 56,132 vehicles in China in its second full year of doing business.
Ford’s passenger vehicle joint venture Changan Ford Mazda Automobile (CFMA) sold 320,658 Ford-brand vehicles in 2011, up 5% from 304,104 units last year. In total 383,397 Ford brand vehicles were sold in 2011.
Among GM brands, Buick sold a record 645,537 vehicles, an increase of 17.4% year on year. It benefited from record demand of 253,514 units for its Excelle passenger car lineup. In addition, sales of the Excelle XT hatchback and Excelle GT sedan reached 134,800 units, and sales of the LaCrosse sedan totaled 103,366 units.
In 2011, Chevrolet sales in China rose 9.4% year on year to an all-time high of 595,068 units. The Cruze sedan remained the brand’s best-selling model, generating sales of 221,196 units. (Cruze sales in the United States totaled 231,732 in 2011.) Cruze was followed by the New Sail family, with 166,693 sales.
Cadillac also made the record book on sales of 30,008 units in 2011, an increase of 72.8% from the previous year, as sales of the SRX luxury utility vehicle totaled nearly 20,000 units. GM’s imported Opel brand had sales of 4,864 units, up 51.1% from 2010. The new Antara SUV was the best-selling Opel model in China.
The Wuling brand generated all-time domestic sales of 1,193,708 units, for 3.9% growth. The Sunshine minivan accounted for 48.0% of Wuling sales. The new Baojun passenger car brand, which entered the market in August 2011, ended the year with sales of 21,854 units.
