GENERAL Motorssaid vehicle sales in China last month increased by 21 per cent, boosted by demand for its Wuling minivan and Chevrolet sedans.Deliveries of cars and minivans rose to 231,183 units in May from 190,674 units a year earlier, the company said. Sales for the first five months increased 12 per cent to 1.2 million units, according toa statement.Bloomberg explained that GM is 'on track' to meet its China sales targets and outperform the industry this year, Kevin Wale, its country head, said in an interviewrecently.The delivery growth reduces concern that an industry wide slowdown will worsen and add to the slump in Europe and stalling job growth in the United States of America.'Our numbers internally are looking pretty solid,' Wale, GM's China president, said in a recent interview in Shanghai. 'We're going to do a bit more than the market growth.'Even so, a decline last month in Buick and Cadillac deliveries led to the automaker selling fewer vehicles in China than in the U.S. for the first time this year.Wales said China's vehicle market would recover in the second half of the year as first-time buyers returns to showrooms.SAIC-GM-Wuling, the venture that makes mini-commercial vehicles used to transport goods and people, boosted deliveries by 36 per cent to 127,749 units, according to the statement.Sales at Shanghai General Motors, the venture with SAIC Motor Corp that makes Buick and Chevrolet cars in China, rose 7.1 per cent to 99,113 units in May, according to the statement.Buick sales fell 1.2 per cent and Cadillac sales slid 2.2 per cent, contrasting with Chevrolet deliveries, which increased 13 per cent, according to the statement. Chevrolet demand had fallen 6.2 per cent in April.GM's sales growth last month comes on the back of a lower base for comparison in May 2011, when its deliveries fell for a second month after the removal of government incentives dented demand.China's passenger vehicle sales rose 1.9 per cent in the first four months this year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Including commercial vehicles, total auto deliveries for the January-to-April period fell 1.3 per cent from a year earlier, the data shows.According toWale mounting optimism the government is preparing to introduce stimulus measures to revive auto demand may affect showroom sales in the near term.Government officials are under increasing pressure to revive consumer demand after the economy grew slower than forecast and vehicle sales slumped.China's cabinet agreed to revive financial incentives for consumers to trade in their passenger cars to help increase demand in the world's biggest vehicle market, a government official said last week.GM plans to open 600 new dealerships this year and in April signed an agreement to build a fourth passenger car-making plant to cater to demand in inner provinces in the world's largest auto market.Last month, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation said it approved selling back to GM one percent ownership in their joint venture for $91.4 million, subject to Chinese government approval.The deal restores GM's ability to have equal say on operational decisions in China, three years after it ceded control of the venture by selling a one percent stake for $85 million.'There is still a European hangover that causes a lot of news that I don't think particularly impacts the Chinese consumer,' Wale said, adding 'So I'm still pretty optimistic it won't take much to bring them back into buying mode.
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