General Motors is expecting over 10% growth in vehicle sales this year in China, where its Buick brand is particularly popular, its local chief said on Wednesday, after the automaker posted a 38% rise to 814,442 units, setting a first-half record.
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“We will have more than 10% growth this year for sure,” GM president and managing director Kevin Wale, an Australian who once headed Vauxhall in the UK, told Reuters.
New government stimulus policies boosted Chinese vehicle demand in the first six months of this year.
The news agency report noted that GM Asia-Pacific region president Nick Reilly had late last year said he expected the Chinese market to be flat to slightly up in 2009 and that the automaker would do a little better than the market.
A GM China statement said sales were boosted by growing demand in medium-sized cities and rural areas as well as the government stimulus programme.
“China’s vehicle market continued to outpace most expectations for growth,” Wale said in the statement. “The market benefited from stimulus policies adopted by the Chinese government as well as growing demand for personal transportation in tier-three and tier-four cities and rural areas.”
Sales by GM’s commercial vehicle joint venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp Group jumped 49.9% to 524,598 units while sales from the passenger vehicle joint venture, with Shanghai General Motors Corp, reached 288,843, news agency AFP reported.
“Vehicle sales in China are expected to remain strong in the second half of 2009,” Wale was quoted as saying.
