Matthiew Tsien, president of GM in China, said that the carmaker expects to sell more than three million vehicles in China in 2014. This marks the second straight year that GM will sell as much. Additionally, the US carmaker’s premium brand forecast is expected to grow by 40%.
According to Tsien, the three focus areas of growth in GM China are SUV, luxury and compact cars. He also reiterated plans for the company to launch 60 new and upgraded models through 2018 in the country, which is the world’s biggest market.
Tsien mentioned that the Cadillac brand definitely has momentum in China. He believes that the luxury market in the country will become the biggest in the world come 2016. Tsien mentioned these statements during a media event in Shanghai. In the said event, it was forecasted that Cadillac sales will exceed 70,000 vehicles for this year, which is up from 50,000 the previous year.
Another area of focus for the American brand is the compact car market as it’s the biggest segment of the passenger car market in China. According to Tsien, the cumulative sales for GM in China reached 20 million units.
GM sells cars under several brands, including Buick, Cadillac and Chevrolet. They lost the top spot in the country the previous year to Volkswagen AG (VW), their German rival.
Both GM and Volkswagen have made known their strategies for expansion, both of which are really aggressive. On one hand, GM intends to invest $12 billion in China from 2014 to 2017. On the other, VW plans to spend $18.2 euros ($23.39 billion) through 2018.
In order to beef up their product offering, GM has recently introduced several new or upgraded models. These include Buick Envision, Cadillac ATS-L and Chevrolet Cruze.
The US carmaker has even partnered with Shanghai Disney Resort in order to boost its image in China. As part of the agreement, the official vehicle of the resort would be Chevrolet and it will also have a presence in the planned Shanghai Disneyland.
