General Motors sold 12% more cars in China in the past quarter compared to last year, the American company announced. It is the first quarter in two years of growing GM sales in China.
In the third quarter, General Motors, which is the second largest foreign car manufacturer in China after Volkswagen, delivered 771,400 cars. That is a growth of 12% compared to the third quarter of 2019. Cadillac sales increased the most at 28 percent, followed by Buick with 26 percent.
There are also brands that have underperformed: Chevrolet sales fell by 20 percent. In addition to the well-known American brands, GM in China has a partnership with SAIC and the Guanxi Automobile Group. This joint venture is called SGMW and contains the Wuling and Baojun brands. Wuling, a brand that specializes in affordable models, grew by 26%. This is mainly due to the Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV, which was China’s best-selling EV in August. Baojun got off less well with a 19% drop in sales.
General Motors is fully committed to EVs for the Chinese market. This year, for example, the Buick Velite 7 was unveiled for the Chinese market, an EV closely related to the Opel Ampera-e and Chevrolet Bolt. Ultimately, GM’s offering in China should be 40% EVs in five years. Rising sales in China are beneficial for GM as the annual number of cars sold has only declined since 2017.
Incidentally, not only GM is benefiting from the recovering Chinese car market. According to news agency Reuters, LMC Automotive, the association for car manufacturers in China, expects a sharp increase in car sales in this quarter compared to last year. Toyota, Honda and Geely, among others, were able to record black figures in the third quarter of this year.