General Motors Corp yesterday said its flagship Shanghai venture had record sales last month, helped by new models and an industry-wide rebound.

Shanghai General Motors, GM's venture with SAIC Motor Corp, sold 63,303 vehicles last month, nearly double the figure from a year earlier, according to the auto maker's statement. The robust sales also improved from July, when it sold 56,489 units.

Shanghai GM's sales boom in the traditionally slower sales season came as domestic consumers rushed to place their purchases before favorable tax breaks expire at the end of this year.

Industry analysts also believed Shanghai GM made great efforts in rolling out localized products, which worked effectively to help it out of recession and keep growing momentum.

Shanghai GM said it sold 38,905 Buick models last month, an increase of 103 percent from a year earlier. Sales of Chevrolet branded vehicles expanded by 99 percent to 23,771 units.

Sales of the revamped Buick LaCrosse mid-to-high class sedan reached 7,887 units and more than 7,000 new Buick Regal sedans were sold.

New models, including the 1.6Turbo Buick Regal and new Cadillac SRX sport-utility vehicles, are scheduled to be launched later this year.

GM achieved a 38-percent sales growth in China in the first half of this year, and it expects the overall industry would grow more than 20 percent this year.

It has just announced it will spend US$293 million to set up a joint venture with China's FAW Group Corp to make light commercial vehicles.

(Shanghai Daily September 2, 2009)