General Motors and its joint ventures sold 297,734 vehicles in China in July 2014. The results represent a 12.7 percent increase compared to July 2013 results and set a new domestic sales record for the month.
“We will continue to expand our portfolio and introduce more product offerings in China to meet increasingly diverse demand in our largest market,” said GM Executive Vice President and GM China President Matt Tsien. “Great products will enable us to stay ahead of this fast-growing and rapidly changing market.”
Shanghai GM
Domestic sales at Shanghai GM, The General’s primary Chinese joint venture responsible for selling its core global brands, came in at 120,734 units, or up 6.6 percent on a year-over-year basis.
Buick’s domestic sales came in at 66,858 units, up 1.0 percent on an annual basis. The brand’s sales were led by the original Excelle family, which sold 20,786 units. The Excelle XT and GT (aka Buick Verano) followed closely with 17,294 sales, while the Regal and Encore sold 8,837 units and 7,311 units, respectively.
Chevrolet sales grew 10.9 percent on an annual basis to 48,046 units. The Cruze remained the brand’s most popular model with 23,129 sales in July, an increase of 27.8 percent year-over-year. It was followed by the Sail, with 7,495 units sold, and the Malibu, with 7,053 units sold.
Cadillac sales grew 58.1 percent on an annual basis to 5,830 units in July. XTS sales jumped 71.1 percent to 2,429 units and the SRX sold 2,154 units.
SAIC-GM-Wuling
SAIC-GM-Wuling sold 125,895 vehicles in July, up 20.3 percent year-over-year.
Sales of the Wuling brand rose 25.0 percent year-over-year to 122,995 units. The Hong Guang family sold 55,008 units, up 91.1 percent year-over-year.
Sales of the Baojun brand were up 2,900 units in July.
FAW-GM
FAW-GM sold 3,105 vehicles in the domestic market in July, down 4.1 percent year-over-year.
Comments
At this point, both GM and Ford would be insane not to design each car first and foremost with China in mind.
Sure, we will get a Camaro type of vehicle on occasion (Ford has globalized Mustang), but the US is now of secondary importance.
The North American, European, and Chinese automotive markets are really not that different. The name of the game has been and should continue to be global vehicles that are high in quality, appealing to the eyes, safe, fuel efficient, and have low emissions.
But there are three exceptions to the “global car” rule that are unique to China:
1. Trucks and commercial vans: the vehicles used for these scenarios there are substantially different than the mid- and full-size trucks and vans used here.
2. Long-wheel-base variants of compact and midsize luxury cars like ATS-L and SLS, as the market only exists for these vehicles in China.
3. The need for more down-market vehicles in China. This is especially apparent when you consider that the best-selling Buick in China, the original Excelle, starts at RMB 96,000, or $15,500.
I cannot understand why Americans buy Japanese cars in such large numbers. On a recent visit to the US I had experience of a Toyota Corolla and Camry, a Honda Accord, and a Nissan Altima, all no more than a year old. In comparison with the American automotive journalists and commentators who rave over these vehicles, at the very least, I can only conclude that either I differ physically and neurologically to a very significant degree, or that I am not in receipt of a fat check passed under the table.