Shanghai GM raises sales target to 580,000 units

By Shi Jierui

Shanghai GM yesterday said it is raising its sales target in 2009 from 500,000 to 580,000 units, a 30.39 percent increase from a year earlier.

In 2008, Shanghai GM, General Motors' passenger car venture in China with SAIC Motor, sold 444,800 units. In the first half of this year, Shanghai GM sold 288,843 units, a growth of 16.1 percent from a year earlier.

Yesterday Shanghai GM launched its new Buick LaCrosse models in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou to compete with the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, locally produced by Guangzhou Auto's ventures with Toyota and Honda.