Despite the ongoing slowdown in the Chinese market, General Motors and its joint ventures have reported record retail sales of 1,948,377 vehicles during the first seven months of the year in China.
07 Aug 2015 | 2493 Views | By Autocar Professional Bureau
Despite the ongoing slowdown in the Chinese market, General Motors and its joint ventures have reported record retail sales of 1,948,377 vehicles during the first seven months of the year in China.
Demand was up 3.3 percent from the same period a year earlier, driven by successful new product ...
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Despite the ongoing slowdown in the Chinese market, General Motors and its joint ventures have reported record retail sales of 1,948,377 vehicles during the first seven months of the year in China.
Demand was up 3.3 percent from the same period a year earlier, driven by successful new product launches and an improved mix of SUVs and MPVs.
In July, GM and its joint ventures sold 229,175 vehicles in China, which was down 4 percent year over year. The company says sales were primarily impacted by model changeovers and the phasing out of older Chevrolet vehicles.
“We have had a series of successful product launches over the past few months, including the all-new Buick Excelle GT sedan and Baojun 560 SUV. This has helped us manage the current challenges facing the Chinese vehicle market,” said GM executive vice-president and GM China president Matt Tsien. “These products are expected to support sales momentum for the balance of the year.”
An improved mix of SUVs and MPVs continued to help offset the market headwinds in July. Retail sales of GM’s SUV models jumped 98 percent, led by the Buick Envision and Baojun 560. Retail sales of MPV models advanced 4.5 percent last month, led by the Baojun 730.
In the first seven months, Buick had its best sales ever in China, selling 504,845 units. This was up 4.8 percent year over year, led by the Envision SUV. In addition, sales of the Excelle GT jumped 58 percent year over year in July.
Increasing demand for the ATS-L boosted Cadillac sales by 12.1 percent to a record 44,060 units for the first seven months of the year.
Chevrolet sales declined 3.1 percent to 353,007 units year over year between January and July. Sales of the Cruze, the biggest contributor to Chevrolet sales, rose 1.2 percent on an annual basis.
In the first seven months, Baojun sales surged 323 percent to 187,121 units. Wuling sales however declined 7 percent to 856,711 units, due to continued contraction of the mini-commercial vehicle market.