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GM overtakes Volkswagen in Chinese
auto sales
BEIJING -
General Motors (GM) has overtaken Volkswagen as
the No 1 foreign automaker in the world's third
biggest vehicle market. GM and its Chinese joint
ventures sold 308,722 vehicles in China from
January to June this year, an increase of 18.9%
from a year ago, the Detroit-based auto maker said
in a July 6 statement.
Meanwhile,
Volkswagen, which began producing cars in China
more than a decade earlier than GM, sold 262,198
vehicles here during the same period. But the
German group claims it is the sole automaker in
China reporting retail sales, instead of sales
made to dealers.
GM said that its robust
sales drove its market share in China to 10.9% in
the first half of this year, up from 9.4% at the
end of last year. "With the rollout of additional
products in the second half and the ongoing
popularity of our existing lineup, we anticipate
double-digit sales growth and another record year
for GM in 2005," said Kevin Wale, president and
managing director of the GM China Group.
The company launched a slew of all-new and
upgraded models in China in the first half of this
year, such as the Chevrolet Sail compact car,
Chevrolet Epica sedan and Cadillac SRX sport
utility vehicle. Officials said earlier that the
firm plans to introduce a record number of new
vehicles this year in China, including more than
10 all-new or upgraded vehicles.
Shanghai
GM, GM's flagship joint venture with Shanghai
Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC), sold 135,381
Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac vehicles in the
first six months of the year. Sales of
SAIC-GM-Wuling, GM's mini-vehicle joint venture
with SAIC and Wuling Automotive in South China's
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, surged by 48.7%
year-on-year to 172,368 units in the period.
"GM is in a good position [in China] as it
is able to source a lot of cheap quality parts
from South Korea. This is where its strength is
coming from," Benjamin Asher, an analyst from
industry consultancy Automotive Resources Asia
Limited, said in a July 6 telephone interview. A
few GM products being made in China, such as the
Buick Excelle, and Chevrolet Epica and Spark, are
based on models designed by its South Korean
affiliate - GM Daewoo Automotive & Technology
Co Ltd. GM will introduce the Chevrolet Aveo
compact car, also designed by GM Daewoo, later
this year or next year in China.
China was
GM's most profitable market around the world in
both 2004 and 2003. However, the company has
experienced profit plunges in China this year due
to price cuts, rising costs and slower sales
growth when compared with last year. Combined
profits of GM's Chinese joint ventures dropped to
US$33 million in the first quarter of this year
compared to $162 million during the same period
last year. GM's sales grew by 27.2% from 2003 to
more than 492,000 vehicles last year.
Jia
Xinguang from China Automotive Industry Consulting
and Development Corp said: "GM also faces mounting
challenges from Japanese and South Korean rivals,
such as Honda and Hyundai, whose sales are growing
strongly in China with their popular
small-and-mid-range models." However, GM is still
aggressively expanding production capacity in
China because the nation is "the most dynamic and
best place in the auto world today", the company's
Asia-Pacific president Troy Clarke said earlier
this year.
GM now has an annual
manufacturing capacity of 850,000 vehicles in
China. As part of its $3 billion joint investment
plan with SAIC, GM intends to double annual
capacity to 1.3 million units by 2007 from 2003.
"Although we don't expect the industry to return
to the unusually high growth of 2002 and 2003, we
do foresee a healthy and sustainable growth level
of between 10 and 15% this year," Wale said.
(Asia Pulse/XIC) |
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