GM sold one car every 12 seconds in 2011

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GM’s lead in the Chinese car market can be measured in seconds according to a press release from GM China, GM were once again the biggest volume selling manufacturer in the Chinese market with a new car or van sold every 12 seconds, or yearly sales of 2.54 million vehicles – an increase of 8% over 2010.

Owing to GM’s wide portfolio of vehicles and brands in the Chinese market it has been able to avoid the malaise that has affected other manufacturers “GM stayed ahead of the competition despite a slowdown in the growth of industry demand thanks to our broad portfolio of appealing vehicles,” said Kevin Wale, President and Managing Director of the GM China Group. “GM and our joint ventures introduced 12 new models in 2011 while expanding our manufacturing and product development capability to meet rising demand.”

The Shanghai-GM joint venture was the leading passenger car sales manufacturer in 2011, the joint venture sold 1,200,355 vehicles in the domestic market which was an increase of 16.2% over 2010′s figure. In the mini van market SAIC-GM-Wuling’s mini van range was responsible for sales of 1,285,820 vehicles alone, a rise of 4.8% over 2010. FAW-GM’s joint venture sold 56,132 vehicles in the Chinese market in its second year of operation, this joint venture focuses solely on self developed commercial vehicles and compact pick up trucks.

Chevrolet sales rose by 9.4% to 595,068 units thanks to the popular Cruze sedan which ranked up nearly half of those sales – 221,196 which must make it one of the best selling vehicles in the Chinese market. The compact Sail series, which has just gone on the market in India as a Chinese export, ranked up sales of 166,693 vehicles sold.

Cadillac sold just over 30,000 units in 2011 which boosted sales by a whopping 72.8% showing a great demand for American luxury in the Chinese market. The new SRX SUV was responsible for 20,000 sales alone. Opel achieved low sales of 4,864 units mostly due to the Antara SUV, sales increased 51.1%.

Buick was the star of the GM line up with it selling 645,537 vehicles and registered 17.4% growth in year on year growth. The entry level first generation Excelle sedan racked up sales of 253,514 whilst the newer generation of the Excelle XT and Excelle GT reached 134,800 units whilst the new LaCrosse sedan reached sales of 103,366 units.

GM expects 2012 to continue in the same way as 2011: “This year will be equally promising for GM in China,” said Wale. “We expect the market for both passenger and commercial vehicles to continue to expand, particularly in China’s tier 3 and tier 4 cities. With our leading sales position and the strong performance of our brands, GM is well positioned to capitalize on the growth opportunities.”

GM is not only expanding in terms of pure sales growth, it is expanding in presence in terms of facilities for Chinese domestic and export issues. Shanghai GM opened a new factory in Shenyang in 2011, expansions happened in Yantai and also in Qingdao factories. FAW-GM started work on its plant in Changchun, Jilin and opened another one in Harbin, Heilongjiang.