GM Takes on VW, Expects Double Sales in China

Even if the current economic situation brought it close to bankruptcy, General Motors expects to double the company's car sales by 2013 and take on Volkswagen Group, its main rival in this particular region. General Motors expects to sell more than 2 million units by 2013, Autonews wrote today quoting a report by Shanghai Securities News, while Volkswagen recently announced that it wants to double its figures to 2 million units by 2018.

In essence, General Motors' predictions are relying on the company's short term plan for China as it intends to launch up to 30 new or upgraded models in the next five years. Sophia Luan, the automaker's spokeswoman in China, confirmed this plan but no other officials could be contacted for comments.

Although General Motors is now fighting for survival in the United States, Chinese sales are going pretty well, with March deliveries increased by 24.6 percent compared to the same month of the year before. Furthermore, GM's sales in the first three months grew 16.8 percent to 363,701 units, according to figures provided by Shanghai Securities News.

Overall, passenger car sales in China rose 10.26 percent in March compared to a year earlier, Autonews informed quoting official data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. A total of 772,400 cars were sold in March, an increase by 27.7 percent from February when Chinese purchased 607,300 passenger cars.

In the United States, General Motors is now facing a 60-day deadline to revise the restructuring plan it has sent to the American government on February 17. Nevertheless, the company is still considering all possible options, with new CEO Fritz Henderson admitting that filling for Chapter 11 may become the only hope to stay in business.