A week or so after announcing record half year sales in Europe, boosted by the east, especially Russia, General Motors said its Latin America, Africa and Middle East (LAAM) region has broken its second quarter record by selling 346,100 vehicles, up 52,100 year on year, a rise of almost 18% compared with industry growth of 13%.
GM’s market share in the region climbed to 17.5% for the quarter, up .7 share points year-over-year.
In contrast, at home in the US June sales were off 8% and the first half total fell 16%, according to the daily sales rate-adjusted analysis by WardsAuto.com.
Brazil, Chile, Egypt and North Africa posted quarterly GM sales records with triple-digit growth of nearly 110% in Egypt. Second quarter records were also set in Argentina, Ecuador and the Middle East.
GM boosted H1 sales about 19% to 670,100 units in the LAAM region, raising market share almost one point.
Its sales were up 36% in Africa, 17% in South America and 7% in the Middle East.
GM LAAM head Maureen Kempston Darkes said: “The strong performance of GM’s global products in our markets, combined with our strong local manufacturing presence, is enabling us to grow our sales volume and market share faster than the industry in these emerging markets.”
“Strong demand for our Chevrolet products, such as the Corsa, Celta and Aveo fueled our growth throughout the region,” Kempston Darkes added.
Those models remained the top three sellers in the region in Q2, taking 40% of GM sales.