“It should signal to everybody that certainly North America is going to be important to righting the ship, but basically the bread is going to be buttered out of Asia,” said Michael Robinet, vice president of global vehicle forecasts at CSM Worldwide. “GM fully understands that, and that’s the reason why they put more decision-making capability out of Asia for their future fortunes.”

GM sales in the US this year are down 37.7% to 1.1 million while sales in China are skyrocketing.

GM’s July sales in China through its joint ventures increased 77.7% to 144,593, which the company says makes it the best July ever in its books. For the first seven months of the year, GM’s China sales were up 42.8% to 959,035, according to GM.

In early August, GM celebrated the sale of its 1 millionth vehicle in China this year — a man named Ye Banjun purchased a silver Buick LaCrosse — with a giant cake.

“Asia is the shining jewel that they have,” George Magliano, an industry expert at IHS Global Insight, said of GM.

“If you look at GM going forward, they are a smaller company, they are more refocused. If they turn themselves around and they have resources … to put behind things, it’s going to be China and Asia.” (Freep.com)

“So far, China’s growth has exceeded anything anybody thought possible,” Mike DiGiovanni, GM’s executive director of global market and industry analysis, said in July.
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