General Motors’ China sales rose 15 percent in September to 319,936 vehicles, following the introduction of a new Chevrolet Cruze in the world’s largest auto market.
Ford, a much smaller player in China, saw its sales dip by 236 vehicles to 95,875 for the month.
The Shanghai GM joint venture reported a 20 percent gain to 158,792 vehicles, while the SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture enjoyed a 15 percent increase to 159,906.
Chevrolet’s sales increased 19 percent to 68,347 units, one-third of which were Cruzes.
Buick’s popularity in China showed no signs of diminishing. Sales increased 18 percent to 83,638 in September.
Cadillac’s bid to swipe market share in China’s lucrative luxury market accelerated in September; sales rose 51 percent to 6,807. In the first nine months of the year, sales are up 12 percent for GM and its joint ventures in China to 2.58 million units.
But Volkswagen is still the largest-selling automaker in China. Its sales rose 15 percent this year through September to 2.72 million units.
Ford has been aggressively expanding its presence in China with more local production and a larger lineup that includes four crossovers. It has been paying off, with sales up 26 percent in the first three quarters of the year to 813,412 vehicles.
But Ford’s passenger car joint venture Changan Ford saw sales of 69,061 in September, down 4 percent.
“We look forward to our continued growth in China as we prepare to launch our new assembly plants in Chongqing and Hangzhou and great new nameplates such as the Ford Escort and the Ford Mustang within the next few months,” said John Lawler, CEO of Ford China.
Ford’s commercial vehicle arm, Jiangling Motors, had a strong September with an 8 percent increase and 23,685 sales.
