General Motors: Record Sales in China for January

China has become GM's largest market, eclipsing the US. In January, the company recorded its highest sales volume in that country. Among the surprising elements of this sales triumph is that Cadillac, GM's premium brand, recorded an extraordinary 194% sales increase. GM's marketing, pricing and sales support are working well. How this translates to global performance remains to be seen, but if the managerial execution can be replicated elsewhere, it bodes well for the company's revival. It will be intriguing to see if the GM management cadre in China is transferred to other markets.

Frank Sherosky reports in Torque News:

Two of GM’s largest manufacturing joint ventures and major vehicle brands in China reached new monthly highs for unit sales.

According the breaking news release via media.gm.com, General Motors (NYSE: GM) and its joint ventures sold 268,071 vehicles in the domestic market in January. This represented an increase of 22.3 percent from the first month of last year and topped GM’s previous monthly sales record of 230,038 vehicles set in March 2010.

Domestic demand for Shanghai GM’s lineup of passenger cars reached 131,944 units, an increase of 46.3 percent from January 2010. Sales in China of SAIC-GM-Wuling’s family of mini-vehicles rose 10.6 percent year on year to 132,658 units. FAW-GM, GM’s light-duty commercial vehicle joint venture, sold 3,334 vehicles in China.

For the record, GM’s largest national market is China. In 2010, for example, GM and its joint ventures sold 2,351,610 vehicles in China, making it the sales leader among global automakers in China for six consecutive years.

On a model breakdown, the news release revealed the following:

Buick sales in China totaled 70,441 units, growing 50.3 percent on an annual basis. Demand for the Excelle lower-medium passenger car lineup was up 92.7 percent from January 2010, reaching an all-time high of 44,492 units.

Chevrolet sales in China rose 36.9 percent from January 2010 to 67,711 units. It was led by the continued strong performance of the Cruze lower-medium sedan, which had sales of 24,225 units, and the New Sail small car family, which began its second year on the market with record monthly sales of 16,429 vehicles.

Cadillac sales were up 194.2 percent year on year to 2,530 units. It benefited from the strong performance of the SRX luxury utility vehicle, which accounted for more than 60 percent of Cadillac demand in the first month of the year.

Wuling sales, which increased nearly 10 percent on an annual basis to 123,920 units in January, were once again driven by the Sunshine minivan – China’s best-selling vehicle for eight consecutive years – and the Rong Guang minivan. SAIC-GM-Wuling sold 66,330 Sunshines and 38,057 Rong Guangs.

GM and its strategic partners produce cars and trucks in 31 countries, and sell and service these vehicles through the following brands: Baojun, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Daewoo, Holden, Isuzu, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling.

GM’s largest national market is China, followed by the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Italy, Russia, Mexico and Uzbekistan.