GM’s (NYSE:GM) worldwide sales rose 3.9 percent in the first half of this year, to 4.85 million vehicles, backed by strong sales on the Chinese and the U.S. markets. The U.S. group competes with Toyota and Volkswagen for the global leadership.
“We plan to keep adding new and refreshed models this year to maintain growth momentum and meet rising demand in China,” said Bob Socia, GM’s president for China.
GM will increase its presence on the Chinese market after opening the Cadillac assembly plant in Shanghai. The giant U.S. automaker announced plans to spend on plants and products $11 billion in China by 2016.
The largest brand of the GM group, Chevrolet, benefited from strong demand for small cars such as Sail in China and Onix in Brazil, but also from the launch, earlier this year of a new version of the Silverado pickup. Chevrolet sales increased from 1.4% earlier this year to a record 2.5 million vehicles.
“Chevrolet is in the midst of the most aggressive new product roll-out in the brand’s history,” said Alan Batey, worldwide vice president, of the Chevrolet brand.
GM, the largest U.S. carmaker, is ranked second in the world, ahead of Volkswagen but behind Toyota at a time when the competition is increasing. GM sold 1.57 million vehicles in China in the first half, surpassing Volkswagen’s shipments of 1.54 million units. On the U.S. market GM increased its sales by 8% to 1.42 million vehicles.
Toyota was the world leader in the first quarter and has not yet announced the results for April-June. VW announced last week sales of 4.7 million vehicles in the first six months, up 5.6% from the previous year. Volkswagen made public its plans to expand on the Chinese market by spending $12.8 billion by 2015.
GM’s shares were up 0.1 percent to $36.50 immediately after the opening of the stock market, but then dropped just under $36 around 1 PM (New York time).
Reply