General Motors, the biggest foreign automaker in China, defied a slowdown in the Chinese car market to reach record sales last year of 2.55m vehicles.
GM said in a statement that sales rose 8.3 per cent, well below 2010’s 29 per cent but significantly above an expected 4 per cent rise in sales for the total Chinese market, which is the world’s largest. Ford also announced its 2011 China sales yesterday, saying they increased 7 per cent.
Total market figures for last year are expected to be released within days by the China Association of Auto Manufacturers, which has previously forecast sales would grow by less than 5 per cent in 2011, compared with 46 per cent in 2009 and 32 per cent in 2010.