GM China Races Past 1.5 million Units for 2009

Posted by Reading Time: < 1 minute

Nov. 9 – U.S. auto giant General Motors said today that it had sold more than 1.5 million units this year, extending its record selling streak.

In contrast to the weak U.S. sales the company has experience exiting bankruptcy, GM and its Chinese joint venture partners passed the 1.5 million mark Monday after a strong October pushed sales for the first 10 months to about 1.46 million, the company said in a statement. The company has already passed the 1.3 million units it sold in 2008.

“This has been a year of records for GM in China,” Kevin Wale, GM China Group president, said in the statement.

According to published accounts, GM said it sold 166,911 vehicles in October – more than double the number sold in the same month a year earlier.

The automaker sold 177,603 new vehicles in the United States in October, up 4 percent from the same month in 2008. It was the first year-on-year gain since January 2008.

According to the China Passenger Car Association, the country’s overall auto market sales rose nearly 80 percent year-on-year last month with 923,154 units sold.

In the first 10 months, vehicle sales soared nearly 52.4 percent over the same period last year to nearly 8.08 million units. China’s total car sales outstripped the United States for the first time in January, making China the world’s largest car market.

Related Reading:
China Sector Watch: Automobiles