April Sales Mixed in China for GM, Ford

By Christina Rogers 

General Motors Co.'s sales in China regained some momentum in April, rising 7.5% over the same year-ago period, while Ford Motor Co.'s performance downshifted with an 11% drop in deliveries to Chinese buyers last month.

Ford and GM, like other car makers in China, continue to benefit from surging demand for pricier crossovers and sport-utility vehicles and a new tax subsidy adopted last year for smaller-engine vehicles.

But the start of the year has been uneven for both U.S. car makers with GM's sales down 1% in March as it replaced several models with newer versions, and Ford's volume up 5% in the same month.

While auto executives remain bullish on China, new-car demand has cooled considerably over the last year amid a broader economic slowdown.

Still, global auto makers are spending billions to build up their operations in the world's largest car market, hoping to tap the country's growing middle-class wealth and expand farther West to interior cities that are just now starting to industrialize.

GM said SUV deliveries more than doubled in April while sales for Cadillac, the company's luxury brand, expanded 13% from the previous year.

Ford is also getting a boost from new sport-utilities recently introduced in China with sales of those models up 27% in the first four months. Ford doesn't break out sales for its premium Lincoln brand, which still has a small presence in China.

"China continues to be a dynamic marketplace as it transitions from an industrial economy to a consumer-led economy," said a Ford spokesman, when asked about April's 11% drop.

Industry-wide sales in China accelerated in March, up 9.8% over the prior-year period, gaining steam after the first two months of the year were negatively affected by the traditional slowdown around the Lunar New Year holiday.

Auto sales for the broader Chinese market will be reported later in May.

Write to Christina Rogers at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 05, 2016 09:54 ET (13:54 GMT)

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