GM's share of market grows 35.2 pct in 2005
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-05 15:58

General Motors Corp. said Thursday its sales in China soared 35.2 percent last year to a record 665,390 vehicles, slightly boosting its share of the country's increasingly cutthroat car market.

Sales were driven largely by the continuing popularity of the company's Buick brand, led by the Excelle sedan and hatchback. The company sold 105,000 of those two models between January and September, according to the China Auto Industry Association, although GM gave no figures for the entire year.

GM, which is looking to growth in China to make up for its shrinking market share in the U.S., said sales of the GL8 luxury passenger van also recorded steady growth, while newly introduced Chevrolet and Cadillac models also did well.

Nearly all of GM cars sold in China are made domestically.

Minivans and small trucks sold under the Wuling brand — made at the GM's joint venture in southwestern China, SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co. — benefited from strong sales in rural China and cities in the relatively poorer interior, it said. That joint venture sold 337,188 units, up 43.4 percent from 2004.