Shanghai GM And Partners Set Q1 And March Sales Record In China

General Motors and its joint ventures continue to see amazing success in China, setting an all-time first quarter record, and March sales record. For March, sales saw a 12.6 percent increase to 290,538 units, marking the second-highest monthly sales month in GM’s history in the Chinese market. In just the first quarter alone, Shanghai GM and company sold 816,373 units, a jump of 9.6 percent from last year.

Specifically, Shanghai GM’s (that’s Buick, Chevy, and Cadillac) domestic sales last month rose 15.2 percent on an annual basis to a March record of 126,785 units. SAIC-GM-Wuling’s domestic sales rose 10.9 percent to 155,065 units, and FAW-GM’s domestic sales rose 12.8 percent to 8,369 units. Both were all-time monthly records.

Buick led the charge for Shanghai GM in March 2013, selling a record 70,118 units, an increase of 22.8 percent year on year. The brand saw a lot of sales from its original Excelle family, whose sales rose 23.8 percent to 29,875 units. Excelle XT and GT (the Chinese-market analogues to the Buick Verano) sales grew 18.4 percent to 16,653 units, while the Regal, which had sales of 8,258 units, grew 34.4 percent.

Meanwhile, Chevrolet’s Chinese sales last month were down 3.1 percent on an annual basis to 53,038 units. Its most popular vehicle was the Sail, which sold 19,226 units. Impressively, the Malibu was up 93.2 percent to an all-time monthly high of 8,287 units.

Cadillac also posted a March sales record, selling 3,629 units in China, growing 32.2 percent year on year. It received a strong boost from the XTS, which sold 2,006 units in its first full month on the market — instantly becoming the brand’s most popular product. Must have been the Brad Pitt commercial.

The real sales champion, however, was Wuling. The brand observed a 13.7 percent sales increase from last March, hitting an all-time record of 148,060 units. It was driven by the Hong Guang, which had increased sales of 90.3 percent to 50,032 units. Lastly, sales of the Baojun brand rose 39.8 percent year on year to 7,005 units in March.

Between January and March, Shanghai GM sold a record 382,028 units in China, which was up 13.3 percent on an annual basis; SAIC-GM-Wuling sold a record 417,077 units in China, which was up 7.0 percent; and FAW-GM sold 16,529 units in China, down 2.3 percent. In addition, GM and its joint ventures exported a first-quarter record 25,483 units, as demand for their products outside China jumped 62.3 percent on an annual basis.