GM's China Sales Up In October
GM shows new vigor in its largest market China. October sales across all of GM’s Chinese joint ventures were up 14.3 percent on an annual basis. The Chinese market is of increasing importance for GM. In the first 9 months of the year, 30 percent of GM’s global sales were in China, trailed by the U.S. with 28 percent of GM’s global business.
Shanghai GM sold 117,611 vehicles in China during October, up 13.8 percent. Its Buick brand was up 7.7 percent to 60,510 units, Chevrolet sales in China were 54,660 units, an increase of 8.3 percent. Cadillac sales in China increased 19.5 percent to 2,491 units.
SAIC-GM-Wuling’s sales rose 15.9 percent on an annual basis to 129,806 units. Wuling brand sales in China during October were 118,788 units, a year-on-year increase of 17.0 percent. Data on Baojun remain a bit murky. The joint venture brand sold 10,968 vehicles in October, which is said to be “more than twice the number of the previous October” for which no numbers have been made available. In the first nine months, more than half of GM’s Chinese unit sales came from SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture, where GM holds 44 percent.
FAW-GM sold 4,259 vehicles in the domestic market, down 2.7 percent
Usually, we take GM’s China sales as a proxy for the Chinese market, but we won’t. October sales of Toyota, Nissan and Honda in China were down more than 40 percent as a result of of the island row, and one can only guess how much of the spoils went GM’s way.
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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Wait until Chinese mobs start rioting on the anniversary of the "boxer uprising".
Forgive me for asking a simple question, but how does the GM mother ship make money on its Chinese ventures? Royalties on IP? Component sales? Is GM even allowed to repatriate earnings to NA out of China?