GM sells more in China than US for first time

Sales of pick-up trucks have surged in the US. Photo / Supplied

General Motors sold more cars and trucks in China last year than it did in the United States, for the first time in the company's 102-year history.

Despite GM's growth in China, Toyota held on to the title of world's largest carmaker. The Japanese company reported 8.42 million sales worldwide last year. That's 30,000 more than GM's 8.39 million.

GM said it sold 2.35 million vehicles in fast-growing China, about 136,000 more than it sold in the US, with China sales surging 29 per cent as an expanding middle class gained wealth.

Sales in the US, including heavy-duty vehicles, rose 6.3 per cent as GM continued to rebound from its 2009 stay in bankruptcy protection.

GM expects its sales growth to continue and industry analysts say it may once again dethrone Toyota as the global sales leader this year.

GM will add a third shift to a pick-up truck assembly plant in Flint, Michigan, to meet an expected increase in demand as the US economic recovery continues.

Pick-up truck sales in the US were up 16 per cent last year to 1.6 million vehicles and they're still among the top-selling vehicles in the country. GM says small businesses are beginning to buy pick-ups again after staying out of the market for nearly two years.

The company will bring back 650 laid-off workers to staff the Flint plant, which has been operating on two shifts a day. The last time the plant worked around the clock was in the second quarter of 2008.

GM achieved double-digit jumps in five of its top 10 markets, including the 29 per cent increase in China. Toyota, in contrast, sold just 846,000 vehicles in China.

GM also marked a 12.4 per cent sales rise in Russia and a 10.4 per cent rise in Brazil.

GM and Toyota tied for the global sales lead in 2007, ending GM's 76-year string of global dominance. Toyota took the title in 2008 and has held it ever since, but last year's string of embarrassing safety recalls and a resurgent GM combined to make the race close again.

Regaining the global lead means a lot to workers on the assembly line in Flint, a town devastated by years of car industry job losses. Just two years ago, they didn't know if their factory or even their company would survive. Dana Rouse, a union official at the pick-up truck factory, called overtaking Toyota the Heisman Trophy of the car business.

The trophy is awarded to the top college football player in the US.

"We're going to take Toyota on, and the people in Flint are going to be a part of that," he said. "This is the birthplace of General Motors. We kind of take it a little more seriously than maybe some other towns."

GM executives say they are focused on keeping customers happy, not on the title. They remember the company's disastrous recent history, when it sold cars at a loss just to hold on to market share.

"Satisfying and retaining our customers and delivering world-class products is pretty much the fundamental business that we're in," said GM North America president Mark Reuss.

To overtake Toyota, GM needs a sales increase of half a percentage point, about the number of Chevy Silverado pick-up trucks it sells per month in the US.

Toyota is still wounded from recalls of more than 10 million vehicles, mainly to fix gas pedals and floor mats that could make cars speed out of control. It was the only major carmaker with lower US sales last month and it's uncertain when sales will recover.

Toyota said it was not concerned with beating GM. "Our objective is to become No1 with the customers," spokesman Paul Nolasco said.

GM spokesman Tom Henderson said: "A financially healthy and sustainable business that benefits our customers, stakeholders and employees takes precedence over any ranking. Our motivation is to be the best global company and let the numbers speak for themselves."