Buick up 50%!
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In China…
Here is the official word from Shanghai:
“SHANGHAI (AP) — General Motors said Tuesday that sales in China soared 50 percent in April to a monthly record of 151,084 vehicles, thanks to strong demand for Buick brand cars and Wuling minivehicles.
Sales of the Buick Excelle sedan, a staple in GM’s Shanghai-produced portfolio, more than doubled from a year ago to 22,078, the company said in a statement.
Overall Buick sales jumped 63.6 percent in April to 38,071 units, it said.
GM’s minivehicle joint venture, SAIC-GM-Wuling, has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of Chinese government policies aimed at encouraging purchases of small cars and minivans. Wuling minivehicle sales surged 60.6 percent from a year earlier in April, to 95,544 units, it said.
Vehicle sales in China so far this year have outpaced those in the U.S. If those trends continue, China would replace the U.S. as the world’s biggest auto market.
Detroit-based GM, which has received billions of dollars in government financial support, is working on a restructuring plan and has until June 1 to avoid a possible bankruptcy filing.
GM said the record in its monthly sales was helped also by its Regal upper-medium sedan, which was introduced at the end of last year, and its new Chevrolet Cruze compact sedan.
Both have gotten off to a good start, Kevin Wale, president and managing director of GM China Group, said in a statement.
“Our new product offensive, which is still in its early stages, has helped get customers into our showrooms and increase demand across the board,” Wale said.
But GM officials said last month at the Shanghai Auto Show that the company intends to keep growing in China regardless of how its current financial situation is resolved.
GM aims to double sales in China to about 2 million vehicles a year within the next five years.”
Probably why they killed Pontiac instead of Buick. It’s making them tons of money over there.
You are 100% correct Vince. They purposely kept Buick alive because they plan on building most Buicks in China and importing them to North America in the very near future!
Now Vince, let’s get back to the real automotive news about to blossom on real vehicles! Let’s see some news on Honda’s plan on uping the run of their vehicles from 5 to 6 years or more. 2010 was going to be the year for an all new Odyssey as well as mid model upgrades for the CR-V and Acura RDX but inside sources at Honda say this will not take place for 2010! What’s your take on this?
Just think if GM had put as much interest in America as it did in China…by “interest” I mean importance.
We might have something better than the sh*t GM sells now.
GM should just sell Buick to the Chinese, and concentrate on Chevy and Caddy over in the states. Since GM is working on lower-cost entry level Caddies, having Buick is just another redundancy.
Why must GM still continue on their awful rebadging program?
That chick looks like a chinese Joey Ramone.
I miss Joey.
go visit https://www.buick.com.cn and briefly check out their cars, they already have the holden based RWD park avenue with a 2.8L 200 hp v6 and a larger 3.6l v6 with 250 hp as their large car, and of course, the very nice and sporty looking regal as a mid size sedan. these 2 cars alone make the entire US buick line up look like a pile of chronic masturbatory bird shit.
I visited China 5 years ago and Buicks were everywhere–VERY popular and well-regarded brand there.
Nothing new about this: The first car to enter the Forbidden City in the early 1920s was a Buick.
I think Buick could be revived in the U.S. with the right cars. Why not? Sixty years ago, Buick was among the best styled cars on the road. If you don’t believe me, go here !