Posted on Friday 21 December 2007
Despite the recovery plans for GM still in full swing in the United States, the company has managed to have some success in overseas markets. China, in particular, has been an important market where GM exceeded 1m sales for 2007, becoming the first global manufacturer to do so.
Just five years ago GM was only selling 100,000 units a year in China, and just two years ago the figure was 500,000. The exponential growth demonstrated in the Chinese market highlight just how powerful the market forces are in such a large developing economy. China has also given new life to the Buick brand, where more units are sold there than in native USA.
The million customer, Zhang Jianping was handed the keys to a Buick Park Avenue and said that he was “extremely honored to be the one millionth customer in 2007 for General Motors. This is my second Buick and I appreciate the performance, safety and durability of Buick.”
The growth was helped by GM’s expansion of the model range they offer in China, including the Cadillac SLS luxury business sedan, Buick Park Avenue premium sedan, Chevrolet Captiva SUV, Chevrolet Epica and Wuling Hong Tu minivan.