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GM's sales over 1.5m units in China

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-11-09 17:28

US auto giant General Motors said Monday it had extended its record sales streak in China, selling more than 1.5 million units this year in contrast to weak sales in the US since exiting bankruptcy.

GM and its Chinese joint venture partners passed the 1.5 million mark Monday after a strong October pushed sales for the first 10 months to about 1.46 million, the company said in a statement.

The company has already passed its 1.3 million units sold in 2008.

"This has been a year of records for GM in China," Kevin Wale, GM China Group president, said in the statement.

GM said it sold 166,911 vehicles in October -- more than double the number sold in the same month a year earlier.

The automaker sold 177,603 new vehicles in the United States in October, up four percent from the same month in 2008 and its first year-on-year gain since January 2008.

GM emerged from a 40-day bankruptcy reorganization backed by the US and Canadian governments in July.

China's overall auto market saw sales rise nearly 80 percent on-year last month with 923,154 units sold, state media reported, citing the China Passenger Car Association.

Related readings:  GM president: China becomes GM's largest market this year  SAIC, GM eye India market  Auto sales show industry beginning to stabilize  China to be largest auto market in the world

In the first 10 months, vehicle sales soared nearly 52.4 percent over the same period last year to nearly 8.08 million units, state media reported.

Last year, a total of 9.4 million units were sold in China, up eight percent from the previous year, but market growth was slower than the on-year expansion of 21.8 percent in 2007.

China's total car sales outstripped the US for the first time in January to make the Asian giant the world's largest car market, helped by Beijing's efforts to stimulate domestic consumption.

These measures included slashing taxes on cars with engines smaller than 1.6 liters and subsidizing alternative-energy vehicles.