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GM reports third straight sales drop in China in 2020

BEIJING — General Motors' vehicle sales in China fell 6.2% in 2020, as the U.S. automaker suffered a prolonged slowdown in the world's biggest auto market. GM, China's second biggest foreign automaker, delivered 2.9 million vehicles in the country last year, the company said on Wednesday, for a third straight decline in annual sales. But sales have been recovering in the second half of last year, up 12% between July and September and 14% in the final three months. GM has a Shanghai-based joint venture with SAIC Motor, in which the Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac vehicle brands are made. It also has another Liuzhou-based venture, with SAIC and Guangxi Automobile Group, in which they make no-frills minivans and have started to make higher-end cars. Sales of its Buick brand grew 4% on the year and Wuling rose 9%, the statement said. Luxury brand Cadillac's sales increased 8%. Sales of GM's more affordable Baojun brand dropped 33% last year, while sales of its mass-market Chevrolet tumbled 30%. GM's delivery of 2.9 million vehicles in China follows 3.09 million vehicles in 2019, 3.65 million vehicles in 2018, and 4.04 million in 2017, for a three-year decrease of 28%.

2017 Buick LaCrosse First Drive

The 2017 Buick LaCrosse seems destined to never get the credit it deserves. It's bound to be dismissed as just another full-size sedan relic, ignored by those who habitually visit their Lexus dealer every few years for a new ES. This new LaCrosse will inevitably be overshadowed in the Buick showroom by SUVs and never fully appreciated by the majority of its buyers who simply want a big, comfy, and quiet car. That destiny would be a shame. The completely redesigned LaCrosse is now a legitimate luxury car, not because advertisements say it is, but for the way it drives, the way it looks, and the way it cossets you inside. The former is really the most impressive, since it's also the most surprising. During the LaCrosse press launch in Portland, Oregon, Buick boasted how comfortable and exceedingly quiet the car is, and indeed, it isolates road imperfections and allows for a pair of low talkers to converse in subdued tones. The big Buick sedan's low-effort steering will also satisfy the nice-and-easy tastes of most drivers. The best way to describe driving the LaCrosse is "unwaveringly pleasant." Yet, during that pleasant drive, road dips and mid-corner undulations don't make the comfort-tuned suspension bob and bound like its competitors might. Its body control and generally planted nature encourage speeds and confidence to creep ever so higher through successive sweeping corners on Oregon's densely forested Mist-Clatskanie Highway. Even that low-effort steering demonstrates precision, linearity, and just enough feedback to further spur on such a pace. This unexpected capability is best observed on cars equipped with the optional 20-inch wheels, which supplant the standard 18s and, more importantly, bring with them Continuous Damping Control (CDC) and GM's HiPer Strut front suspension, which is designed to quell torque steer and further improve cornering grip. You don't even have to engage CDC's firmer Sport mode to appreciate the LaCrosse's surprisingly sharp road manners. "We unleashed the engineers," chief engineer Jeffrey Yanssens said after our test drive. "I told them, 'I don't care how much it costs. I want you to know your system and I want your system to be the best it can be. What do you have to do to make that happen and what can I do to enable you to make that happen?'" Yanssens is honest and clearly proud of his team's work.

Buick Adam a reality after all... but only in China

General Motors may have parred down its brand portfolio, but it still has more under its umbrella than most. That's why, while a company like Ford might market the same vehicle under its own name in markets around the world, GM uses different brands in different markets. But no two are aligned quite as closely as Opel in Europe and Buick in the United States and China.
What we know here as the Buick Regal is sold overseas as the Opel Insignia. Our Encore is their Mokka. Verano? Astra sedan. But one thing we don't get here is the Opel Adam. The diminutive city car is GM's take on the Mini Cooper, Fiat 500, Citroën DS3 et al. Launched at the 2012 Paris Motor Show, the Opel Adam is named after the company's founder (like an ironic thumbing of the nose to the Ferrari Enzo). But while it's sold, like most Opels, in the UK as a Vauxhall, the prospect of it porting over to Buick seems slim to none. Right?
Sorta. While the Adam isn't likely to come Stateside, the latest reports (as yet unconfirmed by GM) suggest that The General is planning to sell the Adam in China where the Buick brand is also a strong seller. Local production could ensue, with prices targeting the Fiat 500 and engines - according to CarNewsChina.com - to include inline-fours displacing 1.2 and 1.4 liters with 69 and 100 horsepower, respectively.