Grows by Leaps and Bounds Overseas

[Flybrian]

GM Grows by Leaps and Bounds Overseas

Bolstered by sales of premium motorcars like the Sino market Buick LaCrosse pictured above, deliveries of GM products in mainland China rose by 25% over last year's strong figures to 876,747 units. This also earns GM an 11.8% share of the domestic Chinese market, an impressive for a foreign manufacturer in an increasingly-competitive and state-dominated market. For the very first time, Buick sold more cars outside the United States than within (304k vs. 240k) and its not all the result of budget models. The more upscale and expensive Chinese LaCrosse sold just over 52,000 units in its first year on the market, compared to 71,000 LaCrosses here in the states.

Meanwhile, sales in the Middle Eastern markets have tripled over the past three years with Chevrolet taking the lead with just under 100,000 units. The Caprice, Optra, and Aveo are Chevrolet's three top-sellers. Sales are expected to increase further with the newly-arrived VE-based Caprice and GMT-900 SUVs to be introduced soon.

GM's official press release follows:

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General Motors Sells Record 876,747 Vehicles in China in 2006

• Major Brands, Joint Ventures Reach New Highs
• Market Share Climbs to Estimated 11.8%

Shanghai, China - General Motors Corp. announced today that it set new marks for sales and market share in mainland China in 2006.

Buoyed by record demand for all six brands offered by GM and its joint ventures, the automaker and its domestic operations sold 876,747 vehicles in mainland China, which was about 208,000 units more than in 2005. This represented growth of 31.8 percent from 2005 and was ahead of estimated industry growth of around 24 percent. It took GM's market share in mainland China to an estimated 11.8 percent.

SAIC-GM-Wuling led the way, with sales of its family of mini-vehicles rising 36.5 percent on an annual basis to 460,155 vehicles. Sales of products from Shanghai GM rose 26.8 percent on a year-on-year basis to 412,791 units.

"Vehicle sales continued to outpace most projections as a result of unprecedented consumer demand for passenger cars," said GM China Group President and Managing Director Kevin Wale. "While demand was particularly strong in the small car segment, nearly all passenger car segments experienced growth.

"GM took advantage by introducing a series of new products under all six of our brands sold locally, in the process expanding what was already the broadest vehicle lineup in the marketplace," Wale added.

Since 2002, when SAIC-GM-Wuling was formed, sales of GM and its joint ventures have grown an average of 34.9 percent annually and GM's market share has risen by 4.3 percentage points. GM's local product lineup has grown as well, to about 30 different models.

In 2006, sales of GM's flagship brand in China, Buick, increased 24.9 percent on an annual basis to 304,230 units. Buick benefited from new vehicles such as the LaCrosse premium sedan which registered sales of 52,021 units in its first year on the market. In addition, established products such as the Excelle, Buick's best-selling model, and the GL8, China's first family of executive wagons, enjoyed continued strong sales.

GM's most popular global brand and its most affordable passenger car brand in China also performed well. Chevrolet sales topped 100,000 units for a second consecutive year, rising 36.8 percent on an annual basis to 145,392 vehicles. The brand's best-selling model in China in 2006 was the Spark mini-car built and marketed by SAIC-GM-Wuling, which sold 40,015 units. It was followed by the Lova small car from Shanghai GM, which sold 36,893 units in just its first year on the market.

Cadillac, GM's luxury nameplate, experienced growing demand for its four products, the CTS premium sedan, SRX medium luxury utility vehicle, XLR luxury roadster and new Escalade luxury SUV. Cadillac began taking orders for the new SLS luxury sedan, which was designed especially for China and will go into production at Shanghai GM in the first quarter of 2007.

The Wuling brand of mini-commercial vehicles and minivans enjoyed sales growth of 35.4 percent in 2006 to 420140 vehicles. The brand benefited from the ongoing popularity of the Sunshine minivan, which accounted for 69.6 percent of total sales, and the unveiling of two new products: the PSN crew cab pickup and Hong Tu minivan.

"In response to what we expect to be continued double-digit market growth, GM and our joint ventures will invest an average of US$1 billion per year in our domestic operations through 2010," according to Wale.

"In 2007, we plan to roll out about 10 new and upgraded products," he added. "Like the Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac SLS and Chevrolet Lova, many of our new offerings are being engineered for the local market by the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC). Our aim is to stay ahead in this critical market for General Motors by offering local consumers the products and services that they want when they want them."

Chevrolet's soon-to-be-introduced Lova, sold in the United States as the Aveo.

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General Motors Sells Record 140,509 Vehicles in Middle East in 2006

This growth has been fuelled by a succession of new car and SUV launches throughout 2006.

A best ever month of sales in the Middle East in December - GM's 38th consecutive month of record sales - took total annual sales to 140,509, an increase of 24% over 2005. This means that GM's sales in the region have almost tripled in the last three years.

'Our continued success is driven by the growing popularity of all our brands, but especially by Chevrolet,' commented Terry Johnsson, Managing Director of GM Middle East.

'We launched 17 new models or new generations of existing models in 2006 and these have been very well received by customers throughout the Middle East.'

Chevrolet is the main driver of the GM growth in the UAE. In 2006 sales of Chevrolet in the UAE were up by 65% to 12,423. At the same time, the premium brands, Cadillac and HUMMER, saw sales grow by 229% to 1,465, while GMC recorded a 9% increase to 1,895.

GM's success in UAE is mirrored throughout the Middle East, with the auto maker enjoying tremendous growth across almost all regional markets. Sales in Kuwait, another key market for GM, grew by 5% to 18,289, while sales in Saudi Arabia were up 17% to 83,710.

GM also enjoyed growth in the remaining Gulf markets of Qatar (up 46% to 5,254), Oman (up 43% to 2,320) and Bahrain (up 19% to 2,303). In the Levant markets (Jordan, Lebanon and Syria) sales grew by 11% to 5,482. Iraq sales were up 189% to 7,065.

The Chevrolet Caprice continues to be the top selling model in the region, increasing in volume by 10% to 18,163. The Caprice was closely followed by the Chevrolet Optra and the Chevrolet Aveo with sales increases of 37% to 14,880 and 26% to 14,669 respectively over sales in 2005. A new generation of the Chevrolet Caprice, which enjoys an unrivalled history in the region, has just arrived in the Middle East and this year's growth highlights its continued popularity.

With increased vehicle sales comes growth in other areas of the business, particularly aftersales. There are currently 31 new GM dealer facilities underway in the region at an investment of US$113 million. US$600 million is to be spent on dealer facilities between 2006 and 2008. In addition, General Motors has opened almost 50 GM quickservice and ACDelco Service Centres in the Middle East with another 20 in the pipeline.

The expansion of GM's US$73 million Middle East Parts Distribution Centre in Dubai, which was completed in 2006, means faster delivery of parts to dealers. This in turn allows dealers to provide faster repairs to customers, which is critical to achieving customer satisfaction.

'We will continue to invest heavily in delivering a fantastic ownership experience,' added Johnsson. 'We have another 12 models to be introduced in 2007 geared towards covering all segments of the market and to putting a new generation of drivers behind the wheel of a GM car or SUV.'

GM brand highlights - 2006 Results

• Chevrolet sales up 30% to 98,042
• Cadillac, HUMMER and Saab sales up 56% to 5,966
• GMC sales up 7% to 35,673

GM market highlights - 2006 Results:

• Saudi Arabia sales up 17% to 83,710
• Bahrain sales up 19% to 2,303
• Kuwait sales up 5% to 18,289
• Levant (Syria, Jordan, Lebanon) sales up 11% to 5,482
• United Arab Emirates sales up 61% to 15,855
• Oman sales up 43% to 2,320
• Qatar sales up 46% to 5,254
• Iraq sales up 189% to 7,065

Holden's Caprice, which promises to lead GM sales under the Chevrolet badge in the Middle East market.

[cletus8269]

i hope that caprice translates to our impala. it's adorned my desktop and my screen saver for about 6 months in an effort to keep my dreams of a performance fullsize chevy alive.

[ZL-1]

Growing where the growth is happening is good, noticing that GM is gaining market share in China makes it even better (I wonder what GM's outlook in India and other high growth countries is).

I hope this translates into GM's bottom line, but mostly (in conjunction with the restructuring efforts in NA and Europe) into generating positive cash flow from operations.

[the_yellow_dart]

Iraq sales up 189% to 7,065

There's nothing at all fishy about that...

[Z-06]

There's nothing at all fishy about that...

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

That should be OUR Lacrosse...

Good to see GM growing!

[GMman]

I love hearing this kind of news!!!

[maxximus1]

I am so glad to know that in some countries the Buick brand is still highly regarded.

[Imaj]

Great news , glad to know that GM is highly regarded outside NA. I wish the same was happening in NA

BTW, the new VE Caprice and the new GMT900 have been launched in the ME.