“The new Riviera offers a preview of Buick’s future design language,” said Shanghai GM President Ye Yongming at the Riviera world debut in China.
General Motors and its joint ventures in China sold 261,870 during April an increase of 15% setting a new monthly record. Year-to-date GM has now sold more than 1 million vehicles in the world’s largest auto market. It was the first time GM surpassed a million unit sales for the year in April.
Shanghai GM and SAIC-GM-Wuling, as well as their Buick, Chevrolet, Wuling and Baojun brands, all reached all-time highs for April sales. Cadillac set an all-time monthly sales record.
Shanghai GM’s domestic sales in April were up 29.2% year-on-year to 121,559 units, SAIC-GM-Wuling’s sales in China were up 5.9% to 134,815 units and FAW-GM’s sales in the domestic market were down 0.3% to 5,124 units.
Buick sales in the domestic market totaled 66,923 units in April (in the U.S. Buick sold 17,157), for an increase of 23.9% on an annual basis. The original Excelle family had sales of 25,336 units, an increase of 9.3%, while sales of the Excelle XT and GT increased 53.7% to 18,413 units.
Last month, Buick debuted a concept version of its upcoming Riviera revival at the Shanghai Motor Show. The coupe combines expressive styling with advanced technology, including plug-in hybrid electric vehicle propulsion. It is the fourth global concept vehicle jointly developed by GM’s Shanghai GM and Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC) joint ventures in Shanghai. (General Motors and its joint ventures displayed a record 53 production and concept vehicles under six brands at Auto Shanghai 2013.)
Chevrolet sales in China rose 21.7% from the previous April to 50,559 units. Sales of the Cruze, the brand’s most popular model, were up 8.6% to 17,277 units. It was followed by the Sail, which sold 15,409 units, and the Malibu, which sold 8,786 units.
Cadillac sales in April were up 99.1% from last April to 4,077 units. It benefited from strong demand of 2,195 units for the SRX luxury utility vehicle and 1,802 units for the new XTS luxury sedan.
Wuling sales in China rose 5.7% on an annual basis in April to 124,556 units. Sales of the Baojun passenger car brand rose 70.5% to 10,259 units.
Between January and April 2013, Shanghai GM had domestic sales growth of 16.8% to 503,587 units. SAIC-GM-Wuling posted domestic sales growth of 6.7% to 551,892 units. Both were records. FAW-GM’s local sales were down 1.8% to 21,653 units.
