(By Balaseshan) General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) posted a 26 percent jump in China sales for January, and 15.9 percent above the previous all-time monthly high.
The Detroit, Michigan-based auto giant reported sales of 310,765 vehicles in a single month for the first time ever in China last month.
Buick and Chevrolet sales rose 21.7 percent and 21.6 percent, respectively. Shanghai GM and SAIC-GM-Wuling sales surged 24.3 percent and 26.6 percent.
Buick's best seller in January was the original Excelle passenger car lineup, which generated a 5.5 percent growth. Buick also continued to enjoy strong demand for the Excelle XT and GT, which experienced sales growth of 19.7 percent.
Chevrolet's most popular model, the Cruze, sales gained 7.8 percent, while sales of the Sail family also remained strong with 21.0 percent growth.
Cadillac luxury vehicle sales in China totaled 1,570 units in January. Baojun, GM's entry-level passenger car brand in China, had sales of 7,018 units.
Wuling sales in China totaled 144,801 units in January, which was up 35.9 percent from last year. Wuling's best-selling model was the Hong Guang, whose sales jumped 158.9 percent.
GM has 12 joint ventures, two wholly owned foreign enterprises and more than 55,000 employees in China. Passenger cars and commercial vehicles are sold under the Baojun, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Jiefang, Opel and Wuling brands. In 2012, GM sold more than 2.8 million vehicles in China.
GM last week reported a 16 percent jump in U.S. sales for January amid strong Cadillac and crossover sales. The company posted sales of 194,699 vehicles in the United States last month.
GM is trading up 1.90% at $28.49 on Tuesday. The stock has been trading between $18.72 and $30.68 for the past 52 weeks.