In April 2011, General Motors’ sales in China rose by 4.6% to 203,367 vehicles compared to the previous year. The drop is attributed to the end of tax incentives in China this year. In a statement, GM revealed that it sold a total of 888,950 vehicles in China for the first four months of 2011. This figure is higher by 6.3% compared to the same period in 2010. Meanwhile, sales of Shanghai GM (its car venture with China-based SAIC Motor) increased by an annual 7.4% to 96,219 in April.
Sales of GM-SAIC-Wuling totaled 100,262 units No comparison was given. GM’s sales in China have already exceeded that of the U.S. to become the carmaker’s biggest market. On the other hand, BYD Co Ltd. (which is supported by Warren Buffett) posted an 11% decrease in April sales to 40,100 units.
Sales in this segment were affected by China’s decision to drop tax incentives on small cars at the beginning of 2011. Its sales went up by a third to a record high in 2010 but analysts now expect that for this year, growth will be subdued. GM posted a group quarterly profit that is higher than what was forecasted. The increase is attributed to the recovering U.S. market and high sales in Asia.
