General Motors Achieves Record Sales in Asia Pacific in 2008

Image via Wikipedia General Motors Corp. announced today that it set a new company record for vehicle sales in Asia Pacific in 2008. Its sales in the region rose 2.7 percent from the previous year to 1,475,093 units. A further 766,400 vehicles and 599,080 complete knockdown (CKD) vehicle sets were exported from the region to other parts of the world.

“GM once again outperformed the Asia Pacific market as a whole despite the global economic downturn and credit shortage, which affected most country markets and major automakers in the second half of 2008,” said Nick Reilly, GM Group Vice President and President of GM Asia Pacific. “We benefited from rising demand for our products in the region’s key emerging markets.”

In China, domestic sales of GM and its joint ventures rose 6.1 percent to a record 1,094,561 units. GM was led by increasing demand for products from the Chevrolet and Wuling brands, which registered sales growth of 15.7 percent to 199,155 units and 17.4 percent to 606,499 units , respectively. The Wuling Sunshine minivan from GM’s SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture became the first vehicle in China to surpass 400,000 units in sales in a single calendar year.

GM sales in India increased 9.4 percent to 65,702 units in 2008, a new record for the automaker. GM was once again led by the Chevrolet Spark mini-car, which accounted for approximately 48 percent of sales. It also was helped by the start of regular production at GM’s second vehicle manufacturing facility in India, the 140,000-unit Talegaon plant, in September.

GM enjoyed growth in several members of the ASEAN sub-region as well. GM registered modest sales growth in Indonesia and the Philippines to 2,610 units and 2,400 units, respectively. In Vietnam, GM sales jumped 45.6 percent to 11,037 units, a new sales record for GM in the country.

In South Korea, GM and its GM Daewoo subsidiary sold 117,374 units. GM Daewoo remained a leading source of vehicles for other GM units worldwide. It exported 1,788,568 vehicles and CKD sets in 2008 to other countries in Asia Pacific and the rest of the world, setting a new GM Daewoo record.

In Australia, GM sold 132,555 vehicles in 2008. The Holden Commodore was Australia’s best-selling passenger car for the 13 th consecutive year. GM Holden, GM’s Australian unit, announced plans in December to build an all-new small car alongside the Commodore range at its Elizabeth manufacturing facility in South Australia.

GM saw its sales in Japan rise 32.0 percent to 10,865 vehicles in 2008. GM benefited from its premium brand strategy, which focuses on offering selected products from the Cadillac, Saab and HUMMER brands.

“GM remains optimistic about the future in Asia Pacific,” said Reilly. “We continue to invest in the region’s emerging and mature markets to ensure our continued growth in one of the world’s most vibrant regions.”

In 2008, GM began an aggressive multi-year product launch campaign, rolling out key models such as the Chevrolet Captiva in India, the Holden VE Sportwagon in Australia, the Chevrolet Colorado CNG in Thailand, the GM Daewoo Lacetti Premiere in Korea and the Buick New Regal in China.

To keep up with demand, GM started regular production at its Talegaon plant in India. In China, SAIC-GM-Wuling completed the capacity expansion of its Qingdao manufacturing plant and made Phase II of its Liuzhou West Plant fully operational, while Shanghai GM ( Shenyang) Norsom Motors’ second vehicle manufacturing plant opened.

In addition, GM began construction of engine plants in India and Thailand, broke ground for its new Asia Pacific and China headquarters in Shanghai, launched clean energy strategies in ASEAN, China and Australia, and began construction of SAIC-GM-Wuling’s new engine plant in Qingdao, China.