China economy not fragile: GM President

By Staff Writer

Jan 19, 2016 01:53 AM EST

Despite the overall decelerating of the Chinese economy, its market remains in a moral shape for General Motors. According to GM president,  "Growth is slower than it had been in the past, but it's still the world's largest market for us".

"Last year, 2015, we posted another year of record sales in China. Our sales in China last year were up just over 5 percent...3.7 million vehicles," General Motors President Daniel Ammann told CNBC's Squawk Box during the Detroit Auto Show.

The US-based automaker and its Chinese joint ventures sold 445,227 vehicles during December, a 14 percent increase from a year earlier. General Motors said it anticipates to launch 13 new or revamped models in China in 2016, including the Cadillac CT6, Malibu XL and Cruze XL.

"We expect to have increased our market share in 2015 through great products and our team's relentless effort," said Matt Tsien, GM Executive Vice President and President of GM China.

According to Automotive News China, Shanghai Automotive, a 50-50 partner to both Volkswagen and General Motors, earned an estimated $4 billion last year.

Reuters  quoted General Motors Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra as saying that though growth in the Chinese auto market has slowed, sales will grow expressively in the long run.

Forbes said that there are three dominant changes of direction which will drive global automakers China earnings lower in 2016. The first one is the spending fatigue, the demand for cars in China has been slowing since the second quarter of 2015.

The second is the power to the dealers, the Chinese government is expected to introduce new rules to boost dealer powers in early 2016, thus breaking automakers monopoly over car sales. The third is the aggressive Chinese SUVs like JAC Jianghuai, Changan and Great Wall are frequently winning the market.

Shanghai composite fell 168 points, or 5.3 percent, to 3,017.99 Monday, on the other hand, Shenzhen composite plunged 130.61 points, or 6.6 percent, to close at 1,848.

According to the sources, China's GDP rose by 6.9 percent in 2015, compared to 7.3 percent reported in the previous year. The numbers match analysts' estimates for quarterly development of 6.8 percent, according to a Reuter's survey. The reports also said that the Industrial production expanded 5.9% in December, down from 6% reported in November. Retail sales also rose 11.1%, decreased from 11.3% in November

Wang Baoan, the leader of statistics bureau, said reports that the nation would prompt its economic improvements in the present year. He also added that growth in the online shopping sector will continue to be robust.

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