GM China Sales Surpass US for the First Time

For the first time in history, American manufacturer GM sold more vehicles in China than in the US for the first six months of a year, after it announced a 48.5 percent leap in numbers in the Asian country. Simply put, GM sold 1.21 million units there in the first six months, while in the US it only reached the 1.08 million mark. GM's achievement is even greater considering the fact that the Chinese market ate up, in the first five months, a total of 5.7 million vehicles.

Of course, this is not necessarily a surprise, as China has already passed the US and became in 2009 the world's top auto market. And, even more, GM can only look at this situation as a positive achievement, given the carmaker's struggles last year.

“China is one of GM’s bright spots globally,” John Zeng, an analyst at IHS Global Insight told chinacartimes.com. “GM has done a better job in the Chinese market than other American automakers. The huge potential in this market will continue to fuel GM’s growth here.”

So, helped by its local joint ventures, GM managed to sell more in China than in its native country. The main contributor to the growth from the JV front was Shanghai GM, the partnership the Americans operate together with SAIC Motor Corp, whose sales rose 18.9 percent to 71,782 units.

"We are pleased with our continued strong sales, especially the performance of Chevrolet, in a highly competitive market," Kevin Wale, managing director of GM's China Group told cbc.ca.

"Having surpassed the one million sales mark for the year, we are well on our way toward record annual sales."