4.12.2002
Shanghai GM sets new mark for production and sales

Shanghai GM's production and sales in 2002 have both surpassed 100,000 vehicles, and the company is on track to sell nearly 110,000 vehicles this year.

Shanghai GM's production and sales in 2002 have both surpassed 100,000 vehicles, and the company is on track to sell nearly 110,000 vehicles this year.

In addition to setting a record for the joint venture between GM and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation Group (SAIC), it also represents the first time that a facility in China produced and sold over 100,000 units a year within four years of start up.

In the first 11 months of 2002, Shanghai GM had exceeded sales for the same period in 2001 by over 104 percent. Sales of the Buick mid-size sedan went up by 96 percent on a year-on-year basis to reach 35,240 units from January to November; Buick GL8 executive wagon up nearly 59 percent to 14,139 units; Sail compact car up 129 percent to 50,449 units.

The company's share of China's passenger car market has grown from just 3 percent in 1999 to 8.6 percent in 2002, placing Shanghai GM among the top three domestic passenger carmakers in terms of market share.

"GM has once again demonstrated the benefit of our partnership with SAIC and our role in the development of China's automotive industry," said Philip Murtaugh, Chairman and CEO of the GM China Group. "We will continue to capitalize on the extensive resources of the GM Group to make Shanghai GM an even stronger competitor in China's rapidly expanding market."

Next year, Shanghai GM will become the first Chinese automaker to export high-displacement engines in large quantities to North America. During a ceremony held Monday at Shanghai GM, the automaker unveiled the V-6 engine that it plans to deliver to GM's CAMI Automotive joint venture in Canada.