GM's chief financial officer, John Devine, stated that...
GM's chief financial officer, John Devine, stated that GM consistently "under-called" the pace of growth in China and the company was determined to expand capacity and release new models to keep up with the market - which is expected to overtake Japan, the world's #2 auto market.
China's production of cars and commercial vehicles was 4.4m last year, an increase of 35 per cent on 2002, compared with just over 6m in Japan.
Mr. Devine said GM expected the market to maintain double-digit growth "for some time" on the back of economic growth, cheaper cars and the approval of vehicle financing for three foreign manufacturers.
GM China sold nearly 400,000 vehicles in China last year through its various joint ventures, up 46 per cent on 2002.
GM's joint venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC) had an inventory of just 4,000 cars at the end of last year, or about six days' worth of sales. This compares with a norm in global markets of 60 to 80 days.
