GM: China sales on fast track

April 13, 2010 at 12:16a.m.

Associated Press

SHANGHAI

General Motors Co. said Monday that demand in China is so strong that the company’s annual sales may top 2 million vehicles this year — four years ahead of schedule — and could exceed 3 million by 2015.

GM is counting on robust growth in China, India and other emerging markets to help offset weakness in its home U.S. market as the Detroit automaker struggles to return to health after its near-collapse in 2009.

“We already have an incredible focus on China, and we’re going to put as much energy as we can on China,” said Kevin Wale, president and managing director for GM China Group.

GM’s China sales jumped 68 percent in March over a year earlier to a monthly record of 230,048 vehicles, propelling a 71 percent surge in first-quarter sales to 623,546 units.

In the lackluster U.S. market, GM’s March sales were 188,546 — or 20 percent below China.

China’s total vehicle sales jumped 72 percent from a year earlier in the first quarter of this year to 4.6 million units as the economy rebounded from the global crisis.

Though year-on-year growth likely will slow in months ahead, analysts forecast that China’s total auto sales could rise as high as 17 million this year.