US carmakers General Motors (GM) and Ford Motor, which suffered a sales slump in their home market last year, yesterday reported buoyant growth in 2006 sales in China.

GM and its joint ventures sold a total of 878,747 vehicles in China last year, surging 31.8 percent from 2005, the company said in a statement.

The strong sales, consolidating GM's position as the biggest foreign carmaker in China, accounted for 11.8 percent of the nation's entire vehicle market, up from 11.2 percent in 2005, it said.

Ford said that combined sales of its wholly owned brands including Ford, Lincoln, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo, rocketed by 86.6 percent to 166,722 units in 2006.

Its growth rate more than tripled that of China's entire vehicle market. Vehicle sales in China are estimated to have risen by a quarter to 7.1 million units last year, helping the country unseat Japan as the world's second-biggest vehicle market after the United States.

The two Detroit-based carmakers' surging China sales represented a sharp contrast to their weak performance in the US, which analysts said indicates the growing significance of the Chinese market for them.

GM's US sales tumbled by 8.7 percent to 4.07 million units last year as a result of increased competition from their Asian rivals. Meanwhile, Ford sold 2.9 million units in the US, down 8 percent.

Ford's China sales still lag behind many global automakers' such as Germany's Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda and Nissan from Japan and South Korea's Hyundai, due largely to its late entry to the market.

In the passenger car area in China, Volkswagen maintained its position as the biggest player. A spokeswoman from Volkswagen China Group told China Daily yesterday that its sales in the nation exceeded 700,000 units last year.

GM said its China sales included 420,140 Chinese-branded micro buses made at its joint venture in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the south.

Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Hyundai have not revealed their China sales for last year, but they are predicted to be much bigger than Ford's.

Both GM and Ford remained optimistic about their China performance in the years to come and vowed to further invest in the world's No 2 vehicle market.

Kevin Wale, GM's China chief, said in the statement: "In response to what we expect to be continued double-digit market growth, GM and our joint ventures will invest an average of $1 billion per year in our domestic operations through 2010."

Wale told reporters on Sunday at the Detroit auto show that GM's China sales would surpass 1 million units this year or in 2008.

GM plans to roll out 10 all-new and upgraded models this year in China under the Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac brands, he said.

The company's flagship joint venture in Shanghai with SAIC Motor Co Ltd makes Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac vehicles, and sells imported Saab and Cadillac cars.

Cheng Meiwei, chairman of Ford Motor China, said: "Through introducing more new and attractive products Chinese consumers love to own, we are confident we can outpace the industry growth again in 2007.

"Ford is quickly approaching our goal in becoming one of the leading auto players in the China market."

Kenneth Hsu, spokesman for Ford Motor China, said the company would continue to invest in new product launches, engineering and dealerships in China through profits earned from local operations and money from its US headquarters.

"Our China operations are enjoying good profits," said Hsu, declining to reveal specific figures.

The firm runs a venture with its Japanese unit Mazda and China's Chang'an Motor in Chongqing Municipality in the southwest, which is assembling the Ford, Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo, Mazda3, and Volvo S40.

The venture will produce a European-designed Ford S-MAX in the first quarter of this year, Ford said. A new plant is being built in East China's Jiangsu Province that will assemble Ford and Mazda cars for the venture in the second half.

Ford announced in November it would build a research and engineering center in Jiangsu with an initial budget of 220 million yuan.

Source: China Daily