(June 5, 2012) SHANGHAI — General Motors and its joint ventures sold a May record 231,183 vehicles in China, GM announced today. Demand was up 21.3 percent from the same month in 2011 and 1.7 percent from April of this year.

Shanghai GM’s domestic sales rose 7.1 percent from May 2011 to 99,113 units. SAIC-GM-Wuling sold 127,749 vehicles in China, an increase of 35.9 percent year on year. FAW-GM sold 3,756 vehicles in the domestic market last month, down 0.7 percent from last May.

Buick sales totaled 51,360 units in May, down 1.2 percent from the same month last year. Sales of its original Excelle family grew 19.0 percent year on year to 23,085 units. Sales of the Excelle XT and GT were also strong, totaling 11,985 units.

Chevrolet sales in China were up 13.1 percent on an annual basis to a May record 48,563 units. Sales of its most popular model, the Cruze, rose 34.0 percent to 18,977 units. It was followed by the New Sail, which totaled sales growth of 86.8 percent to 18,773 units.

Cadillac sales were down 2.2 percent on an annual basis to 2,205 units. Leading the way for GM’s luxury brand was the SRX, which had sales of 1,754 units in May.

Wuling sales in China jumped 34.0 percent year on year to a May record 119,721 units. Demand rose for its entire minivan lineup. The Baojun brand had sales of 5,013 units in its first May in the market.

For the first five months of 2012 as a whole, GM and its joint ventures sold a record 1,203,552 vehicles in China, an increase of 11.5 percent year on year. Shanghai GM’s sales in China rose 6.4 percent to 530,422 units, SAIC-GM-Wuling’s domestic sales grew 16.6 percent to 645,020 units and FAW-GM sold 25,815 vehicles in China, off by 3.5 percent.

“Our Shanghai GM and Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC) joint ventures are marking their 15th anniversaries in June,” said Kevin Wale, president and managing director of the GM China Group. “As we celebrate these important milestones, GM is looking forward to building on our success through continued growth in our largest market.”