General Motors and its joint ventures booked record retail sales of 2,197,192 vehicles in China during the first eight months of the year, which was up 2.3% year on year. The increase, the automaker said, was driven by successful new product launches and an improved mix of SUVs and MPVs.
In August, domestic sales by GM and its joint ventures declined 4.8% to 248,815 vehicles, owing to softness in the overall vehicle market.
GM China president Matt Tsien said: “Recently launched models such as the Buick Excelle GT and Cadillac ATS-L have been well received by consumers and produced solid sales growth.”
Increased demand for several SUV and MPV models helped offset the market slowdown in August. The Buick Envision and Baojun 560 led the sales growth during the month, rising 161.7%, while sales of the Baojun 730 MPV more than doubled.
Buick enjoyed its best sales ever in China in the first eight months of the year. Sales rose 5.4% year on year to 581,544 units, led by the Excelle GT and Envision. In August alone, Excelle GT volume jumped 77.6%.
Cadillac also set a record in the first eight months of the year with sales rising 12% year on year to 49,186 units. Sales of the ATS and ATS-L reached a new high for the period.
Chevrolet sales declined 7.4% to 391,677 units year over year between January and August. However, sales of the Trax urban SUV surged 146.2% to a record for the eight-month period.
Baojun sales jumped 282.5% to 223,367 units, an all-time high from January to August. The Baojun 560 SUV exceeded expectations in its first six weeks on the market.
Wuling sales declined 8.1% to 948,643 units in the January-August timeframe due to continued contraction of the mini-commercial vehicle market.