GM Soars In China

General Motors, still awakening from bankruptcy and trying to regain its U.S. market share, reports very good news from the world’s largest car market.

The company’s vehicles are selling like gangbusters in China. And, yes, China, not the U.S., is now the world’s biggest car market.

GM sales in China increased 49.6 percent through the first eight months of the year, to 1.1 million cars and trucks, the Detroit Free Press reports. Continued strong demand for Buicks and Chevrolets in China drove August sales for GM and its joint ventures in China higher in August by 112.7 percent.

“We are now looking at a market of 11.5 to 12 million vehicles, up from 9.1 million units last year,” Kevin Wale, president of GM China, said in a statement. “We expect GM sales for the year…to rise by more than 40 percent from 2008.”

It’s news that those who hope GM can make it again as a standalone company, instead of a ward of the U.S. government, can latch onto as reason for hope.

Of course, the company’s U.S. sales weren’t so rosy. Here at home, GM reported a 20 percent decline in U.S. sales in August, compared to last year’s August. Last year, GM had big promotions going to celebrate its 100th anniversary. So that explains some of the domestic drop.