China’s Chery Beats General Motors in March
April 09, 2007

China’s Chery Automobile Co., a maker of inexpensive and increasingly popular cars, outsold the General Motors in China last month, becoming the first home-grown auto company to surpass GM’s China venture in monthly sales, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Chery, a midsize but fast-growing company in East China, recently signed an agreement with DaimlerChrysler to jointly produce small, inexpensive cars in China for export to Europe and North America. It is the same Chery that GM sued, accusing Chery of copying GM’s Chevrolet Spark for its QQ. Chery’s QQ compact requires deep discounts and sells at about a third the price of some Chevrolet models.

Chery sold 38,000 cars last month, according to industry association data. It trailed only FAW Volkswagen, the top European automaker’s venture with FAW Group, which sold 39,800 cars. Volkswagen’s venture with China’s SAIC Motor Corp. took third spot with sales of 37,700 cars.

In total, new car sales in China for March reached 567,000 units, up 16 percent from the same month last year. Sedan sales neared the record monthly high of last December. Shanghai General Motors was the top seller of sedans in the first quarter followed by Shanghai Volkswagen and FAW Volkswagen.

The Volkswagen Santana was the top-selling model, followed by the Buick Excelle, Volkswagen Jetta, Toyota Camry and home brands Xiali and QQ, according to the association.

Chery’s strong March reflects the growing strength of China’s local automakers. Local producers saw sales surge 22 percent in the first quarter to 1.54 million vehicles, according to the industry association. Sales of sedans rose 30 percent to 1.12 million units; multipurpose vehicles were up 15 percent to 53,300; and sport-utility vehicles were up 16 percent to 71,600.

Jiang Lei, deputy chief of the association, has forecasted car sales in China to grow 15 percent to hit 8 million units this year. China overtook Japan last year to become the world's largest market for new vehicles second only to the U.S. China’s new car sales climbed 25 percent to 7.22 million units in 2006, according to the association.

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