General Motors Company (GM) and its joint ventures completed the sale of this year’s 3 millionth vehicle in China in Oct 2014. In 2013, the automaker had achieved this sales record on Dec 12. This is the second consecutive year that the automaker has attained this milestone.
The high level of sales was driven by the company’s wide product portfolio, which was able to satisfy customers nationwide. The company recorded strong demand for its higher end lineup, the SUV and MPV segments.
In the first ten months of 2014, General Motors and its joint ventures recorded a 10.7% year-over-year increase in sales in the nation, taking the figure to 2,872,501 vehicles.
The company offers a wide range of vehicles and brands in China. The different brands for passenger cars and commercial vehicles are Baojun, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Jiefang, Opel and Wuling. The automaker offers more than 40 different models under these seven brands in China. The vehicles range from mini-cars to luxury sedans, and also include mini-commercial vehicles and light-duty trucks. The automaker has an edge over others in China as it itself produces the vehicles it sells in the nation. In addition, many of the vehicles are engineered and designed locally.
Sales of the Cadillac luxury vehicle brand witnessed a 57.9% rise to 57,541 units in the first ten months of 2014. Sales benefited from an increase in SRX and XTS sales. The automaker also recorded better sales performance in Buick Envision and Chevrolet Trax, which are the new vehicles launched by the company under the SUV segment. Sales of the Baojun’s 730 MPV were 58,528 units since its sales began in July.
General Motors also offers a wide range of services in the domestic market. Recently, Shanghai GM announced that it will offer embedded 4G LTE service in a Cadillac model in 2015. The automaker is also focused on expanding its vehicles and services in order to adapt with the diverse market in China. Further,the company plans to launch 60 new or refreshed vehicles in the nation through 2018.
General Motors is a leading global automotive company. The company has ten joint ventures and two wholly owned foreign enterprises in China, and employs around 58,000 workers. It currently holds a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
Better-ranked automobile stocks worth considering include Gentex Corp. (GNTX), Toyota Motor Corporation (TM) and STRATTEC Security Corporation (STRT), each carrying a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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