GM's China sales up 51pc in February

General Motors said its February vehicle sales in China rose 51 percent from a year earlier on strong demand for Chevrolet and Cadillac models as well as its popular minivans.
The 174,306 vehicles sold by General Motors Co. and its joint ventures in China in February was a company record for the month, it said Wednesday, though well below the 219,192 vehicles sold in January.
That could reflect slower sales due to the Lunar New Year holiday, but also a softening in demand for small cars that have powered the company's growth in China, the world's biggest auto market, over the past year.
"Our February sales numbers exceeded our expectations despite the Spring Festival holiday," Kevin Wale, president and managing director for GM China Group, said in a statement.
"The continued strong market demand portends another record year for both the industry and GM in China in 2010," he said.
The bulk of GM's were still by SAIC-GM-Wuling, GM's mini-vehicle joint venture, which sold 110,315 units, up 37.7 percent from the year before, the company reported.