Volkswagen Sells Nearly 2 Million CARS In China

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

A few days ago, we mentioned that Volkswagen might have something to say about GM’s press release which claimed that in 2010, “Shanghai GM became China’s first passenger car maker to sell 1 million vehicles annually.”

Today, Volkswagen said something, without even mentioning GM.

Volkswagen, which operates car ventures with Chinese state auto groups SAIC Motor and FAW Group, sold 1.92 million cars in mainland China and Hong Kong in 2010, up from 1.40 million a year earlier, Reuters reports.

We said a few days ago that “VW is expected to have sold a little bit less than 2 million passenger cars in China,” and VW did not disappoint.

Volkswagen sold 37 percent more vehicles in mainland China and Hong Kong. Compared with arch rival GM, Volkswagen either gained or lost market share in China, it depends how you look at it.

Compared to the big Chinese GM that sold 2,351,610 units last year (including more than a million Wuling delivery vans), Volkswagen gained market share. Big GM grew 28.8 percent, while Volkswagen grew 37 percent.

Compared to the small GM, a.k.a. Shanghai GM which sold 1,033,307 Buicks and Chevys, Volkswagen lost market share. Small GM gained 42 percent.

See, it’s a matter of perspective, and we’ll find enough perspectives to make everybody happy.

The Volkswagen number is impressive, given the fact that it’s all passenger vehicles and that Volkswagen could not make the number of cars the ravenous market demanded. In China, Volkswagen was capacity constrained for most of the year.

To fix that, they will drop serious money into China. Volkswagen will invest $13.8 billion in the country through 2015, earmarked to expand Volkswagen’s production capacity (two new factories) and to develop new products.

Wuling sales had been a bit lame recently. Once all that new VW capacity comes on-line, Volkswagen could outsell even “big GM” in China.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Snabster Snabster on Jan 07, 2011

    IS there a way of tracking profit at these JVs? Looking at Shangai's GM's lineup, for instance, much cleaner than the US lineup (less models). VW has a lot of older models. Have to keep the costs way way down

  • Steven02 Steven02 on Jan 07, 2011
    "See, it’s a matter of perspective, and we’ll find enough perspectives to make everybody happy." Quote of the day.
  • Lorenzo The original 4-Runner, by its very name, promised something different in the future. What happened?
  • Lorenzo At my age, excitement is dangerous. one thing to note: the older models being displayed are more stylish than their current versions, and the old Subaru Forester looks more utilitarian than the current version. I thought the annual model change was dead.
  • Lorenzo Well, it was never an off-roader, much less a military vehicle, so let the people with too much money play make believe.
  • EBFlex The best gift would have been a huge bonfire of all the fak mustangs in inventory and shutting down the factory that makes them.Heck, nobody would even have to risk life and limb starting the fire, just park em close together and wait for the super environmentally friendly EV fire to commence.
  • Varezhka Of all the countries to complain about WTO rules violation, especially that related to battery business…
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