General Motors China Sales Down 3.9 Percent To 295,236 Vehicles In September 2015

General Motors and its joint ventures sold 295,236 vehicles in China in September 2015, a 3.9 percent decrease from September 2014.

The situation isn’t as bleak as it was over the last few months, as sales grew up 18.7 percent to compared to August 2015, marking the second consecutive month-on-month increase.

“GM’s product mix has been improving with recently launched models. This has helped us meet consumers’ evolving and diversifying needs,” said GM Executive Vice President and GM China President Matt Tsien. “We anticipate growth in the SUV, MPV and luxury segments representing about 80 percent of overall growth in the market over the next several years. GM is well-positioned to participate in this growth.”

SUVs accounted for 17.3 percent of GM’s sales in China in September compared with just 6.1 percent during the same time a year earlier, representing a 170.8 percent growth. As during the last several months, the growth was led by the Buick Envision and Baojun 560.

In addition, sales of Cadillac luxury cars increased 14.7 percent in September on a year-over-year basis, making September the fifth month of double-digit sales growth this year.

As we mentioned earlier this month, the Chinese government initiated an incentive that reduces the tax levied on new passenger vehicles and light vans with engines of 1.6 liters and under to 5 percent from the previous 10 percent, thereby enabling customers to save thousands of RMB by purchasing an eligible new vehicle. A total of 30 GM models across 128 trim levels sold by GM’s joint ventures in China are eligible for the incentive, which runs from October 1^st through the end of next year.

Notes:

• Unfortunately, GM China elected not to break out sales results by brand or by model for the month of September. To note, the division has not done so for June, July or August, during which it also posted sales declines.
• Starting with April 2015 sales results, GM began reporting retail sales rather than wholesales in China. All figures seen here are retail sales.