GM Boosts China Forecast, Now Expecting 40% Growth This Year

[Coventina]

Source: Wall Street Journal

BEIJING—General Motors Co. said Wednesday its sales growth in China, its fastest growing market, should exceed 40% this year after August sales more than doubled from a year earlier.

The jump in sales, spurred by new models and favorable vehicle-purchase policies from Beijing, continued a series of single-month records that began in January. It helped to push the U.S. auto maker's unit sales to 1.11 million for the first eight months of this year, outpacing its total for 2008.

"We expect GM sales for the year as a whole to rise by more than 40% from 2008," said GM China Group President and Managing Director Kevin Wale in a statement.

Ford Motor Co. also reported Wednesday that sales of autos from its passenger vehicle joint venture in China more than doubled in August from a year earlier to 21,127 units.

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