GM China Sales Set Record

SHANGHAI, China — Even as the resignation of company president and CEO Fritz Henderson was being announced at company headquarters in Detroit, General Motors was putting the wraps on a new record in China, where the U.S. automaker's November sales leaped by 109.5 percent to 177,399 vehicles.

For the first 11 months of the year, GM and its Chinese joint-venture partners sold 1,636,799 vehicles, a surge of 64 percent from the same period in 2008.

The Buick brand continued to show strength in China in November with sales of 42,822 units, up 118 percent from the previous year. Chevrolet sales jumped 281 percent to 35,789 units, including 13,880 sales of the new Cruze.

Far and away GM's biggest-selling brand in China remains Wuling, a minivehicle specialist. The SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture sold 89,636 minivehicles last month, a jump of 63 percent from the previous year. The Wuling Sunshine microvan generated sales of 50,908 units in November, maintaining its segment leadership.

Local analysts don't expect the global management reshuffle at GM to have an impact on the carmaker's strategy and sales in China.

GM earlier said it plans to double its sales in China to 2 million units by 2015 and introduce more than 30 new or revamped models to widen its product portfolio. In fact, GM's China sales this year could top 1.9 million.

Inside Line says: Fortunately for GM, Buick continues to be a powerful brand among affluent Chinese consumers. — Vivian Jin, Correspondent