CHINA IS being asked to provide a lot of silver linings in a cloudy world for the world's car-makers, but it came up trumps for General Motors' China unit, which saw sales rise 50 per cent in April to register a new monthly record, writes CLIFFORD COONANin Beijing
While bankruptcy looms for GM back in Detroit unless the company can reorganise by June 1st, strong demand for its Buick and Wuling models in China meant April sales, including joint ventures, totalled 151,084 vehicles.
GM has received billions of dollars in government financial support, but it’s hard to imagine a company in difficulty when you see the way GM’s minivans and sedans are populating China’s roads, alongside other foreign successes like VW.
This is perhaps why GM is happy to make forecasts about doubling sales in China to two million vehicles a year within the next five years, regardless of how things pan out in Detroit.
China is the sole bright spot in an increasingly dark car market. After overtaking the US as the world’s biggest car market in January, China’s car sales hit a monthly record of 1.08 million units in March.
China has continued to establish itself as the destination of choice for the world’s struggling auto-makers, with a market stirred by tax breaks and other government incentives aimed at boosting domestic demand.
These measures include slashing purchase taxes on small vehicles and subsidies for buying alternative energy vehicles.
GM had already started reaping the benefit of these incentives back in March, when sales rose 24.6 per cent to 137,004 vehicles, another monthly record.
In 2008, GM sold more than 1.09 million vehicles in China, 6.1 per cent higher than 2007.
The company was modest in its assessment of the Chinese market, though you sense they must be incredibly relieved that the bottom line is being propped up by sales in the world’s biggest car market.
“Coming off a record month in March, GM is very satisfied with the ongoing strength in domestic sales of both of our joint ventures,” GM China Group President Kevin Wale said in a statement. “Our new product offensive, which is still in its early stages, has helped get customers into our showrooms and increase demand across the board,” he said.
It was clear at last month’s Shanghai Motor Show that GM was relying on Chinese growth to keep things ticking over at the troubled Detroit giant.
One of the group’s joint venture vehicles, the SAIC-GM-Wuling mini-commercial vehicle, is strongly in evidence on the streets in Shanghai. It was little surprise that it posted a 60.6 per cent surge in sales to 95,544 units in April. This advance was led by the Wuling Sunshine, a hugely popular mini-van.
Sales of the Buick Excelle sedan, a mainstay of GM’s Shanghai-produced portfolio, more than doubled from a year ago to 22,078.
Also helping things along was the Regal upper-medium sedan, which was introduced at the end of last year, and its new Chevrolet Cruze compact sedan.
Overall Buick sales jumped 63.6 per cent in April to 38,071 units, the company said.