Chevrolet Malibu and Buick Encore are among the new offerings from GM in China.
In the closely watched sales race in China, the world’s largest car market by far, the reigning champion GM held off its strongest contender, the VW Group, for the Number One position through May. According to Volkswagen Group sales figures just released this morning in Wolfsburg, its Asia Pacific region through May delivered 1.43 million vehicles (+16.4%), of which 1.28 million (+18.2%) were delivered in China, the Group’s largest single market.
For GM, struggling in Europe and recording below average gains in the recovering U.S. auto market, the VW Group China results were welcome news. For the first five months of 2013, GM and its joint ventures sold a record 1,331,185 vehicles in China, an increase of 10.6% year-on-year. Shanghai GM’s sales in China rose 17.1% to 620,968 units, SAIC-GM-Wuling’s domestic sales grew 5.8% to 682,354 units and FAW-GM’s China sales were up 2.2% to 26,380 vehicles.
One interesting trend emerging is Porsche’s phenomenal success in China. Porsche, which became a Volkswagen Group brand on 1 August 2012, delivered 67,300 vehicles in the first five months. Demand for models built by the Stuttgart-based carmaker was especially high in the Asia-Pacific region, where 20,000 vehicles were delivered, of which 15,038 were in China. In the North America region, where 19,400 models (17,609 in the U.S.) were handed over to customers.
GM and its joint ventures still offer the broadest lineup of vehicles and brands among automakers in China. Passenger cars and commercial vehicles are selling under the Baojun, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Jiefang, Opel and Wuling brands. In 2012, GM sold more than 2.8 million vehicles in China. It has been the sales leader among global automakers in the market for eight consecutive years, but is being pressed by the Volkswagen Group, which is now a close second. The race is far from over.
