GM, Ford See Strong Growth
China Radio International 2007-01-09 China Daily
US carmakers General Motors (GM) and Ford Motor, which suffered a sales slump in their home market last year, yesterday reported buoyant growth in 2006 sales in China. GM and its joint ventures sold a total of 878,747 vehicles in China last year, surging 31.8 percent from 2005, the company said in a statement. The strong sales, consolidating GM's position as the biggest foreign carmaker in China, accounted for 11.8 percent of the nation's entire vehicle market, up from 11.2 percent in 2005, it said. Ford said that combined sales of its wholly owned brands including Ford, Lincoln, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo, rocketed by 86.6 percent to 166,722 units in 2006… In the passenger car area in China, Volkswagen maintained its position as the biggest player. A spokeswoman from Volkswagen China Group told China Daily yesterday that its sales in the nation exceeded 700,000 units last year. GM said its China sales included 420,140 Chinese-branded micro buses made at its joint venture in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the south… GM plans to roll out 10 all-new and upgraded models this year in China under the Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac brands… Ford announced in November it would build a research and engineering center in Jiangsu with an initial budget of 220 million yuan.
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