General Motors Corp's Chinese unit had a nearly fourfold rise in 2002 profit because it sold more Buick and Sail cars in Asia's fastest-growing market.
Shanghai General Motors Co's net income surged to 2.9 billion yuan (US$350 million) last year from 749 million yuan a year earlier, Zhang Tao, a spokesman at Shanghai Automotive Co, which owns half the unit, said in an interview. Sales rose 61 percent to 18.5 billion yuan from 11.5 billion yuan.
General Motors, the world's biggest carmaker, Toyota Motor Corp and other automakers are selling more cars in the world's most populous nation, as rising incomes and easier financing allow more households and businesses to buy vehicles. General Motors' results may dispel concerns rising competition will hurt profits.
"We are very optimistic about GM's sales growth in China," said Zhou Feng, who owns 10.4 million Shanghai Auto shares at Boshi Fund Management Co in Shenzhen. "China's vehicle market will expand at least 30 percent a year in the next five to 10 years." Shanghai Auto, the publicly traded unit of Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp, China's biggest vehicle maker, said 2002 net income rose 36 percent to 1.07 billion yuan, or 0.43 yuan a share. Sales rose 30 percent to 4.8 billion yuan from 3.7 billion yuan the year before, the company said in a statement.
The number of cars sold in China will probably increase by about a quarter this year to 1.45 million units, according to the State Information Center, a Chinese government think tank. Sales of all vehicles, including cars, rose to 3.2 million vehicles last year, the planning commission said on its Web site on Jan. 13.
Production rose 38 percent to 3.3 million units.
That compares to a forecast of a 1.4-percent slump in global car sales, according to a Feb. 14 report by World Markets Research Center.
The Shanghai Automotive group owns half of General Motor's US$1.5 billion venture in China's biggest city, producing Buick and Sail passenger cars. Shanghai Auto, the publicly traded company, directly owns 20 percent of the venture.
"GM improved its performance and increased its investments in China," Philip Murtaugh, General Motors' China Chairman said in a statement.
Shanghai General Motors sold about 110,000 vehicles in China last year, from 58,000 in 2001.
One of its most popular models is the Buick Sail, a redesigned Opel Corsa that runs on a 1.6-liter engine and which sells for between 134,000 yuan (US$16,000) and 100,000 yuan each.
The venture's Buick cars, which sell for more than 300,000 yuan each, are usually used by business executives and government bureaucrats.
Shanghai General Motors may expand its annual production capacity to 175,000 vehicles using three shifts, from 100,000 units on two shifts now, Chris Gubbey, the venture's executive vice president, has said.
General Motors employs about 9,000 workers in China, in five ventures.
HSBC Holdings PLC is deepening its commitment to Taiwan as the economy emerges as one of the bank’s fastest-growing markets globally, driven by an artificial intelligence (AI) investment boom, expanding cross-border trade, and rising wealth creation. “The advantage that Taiwan has is a growth story linked to the semiconductor and broader AI industries, strong underlying corporate performance, and wealth creation,” said Surendra Rosha, HSBC’s co-chief executive for Asia and the Middle East, in an exclusive interview with the Taipei Times on June 2, during this year’s HSBC Taiwan Conference. That combination has helped HSBC cement its position as the most profitable international
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday fell sharply against the US dollar to close at its lowest level since May 22 amid a massive outflow of funds from the country because of investors panicking over global equity markets. The NT dollar ended at NT$31.580 against the US dollar, slightly lower than its close of NT$31.568 on May 22, after moving between NT$31.5 and NT$31.648 on combined turnover of US$3.062 billion on the Taipei Foreign Exchange and the Cosmos Foreign Exchange. The NT dollar received a significant hit in the morning session, slumping as much as NT$0.173 at a time when other Asian currencies
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is now ranked ninth among the world’s 100 most valuable companies after its market capitalization more than doubled over the past year, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Taiwan said in a report last month. TSMC’s market capitalization surged 101 percent year-on-year to US$1.427 trillion as of March 31, the accounting and consulting firm’s 2026 Global Top 100 Companies by Market Capitalization report said. The gain catapulted the world’s largest contract chipmaker from 12th place to ninth in the rankings, and it was the fastest-growing among the global top 10, it said. TSMC was the only Taiwanese company among the top
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reported record revenue of NT$416.975 billion (US$13.17 billion) for last month, putting the world’s largest contract chipmaker on track to set a record for quarterly revenue. Last month’s figure surpassed March’s record NT$415.19 billion and represented increases of 1.5 percent from April and 30.1 percent from a year earlier. For the first five months of the year, TSMC generated NT$1.96 trillion in revenue, up 30 percent year-on-year, it said in a statement. TSMC has forecast second-quarter revenue of between US$39 billion and US$40.2 billion, representing sequential growth of about 10 percent and year-on-year growth of about
RSS