General Motors' sales in China rose 15% in April from a year earlier,
but the automaker rebutted a Wall Street Journal opinion column that accused it
of using U.S. taxpayers' money to support operations in China.
GM and its joint venture partners sold 261,870 vehicles last month in China in
April, about 10% more than the 237,646 it sold in the U.S.
Last week, a Wall Street Journal op-ed column by Edward Niedermeyer criticized
GM for investing $11 billion in China by 2016 despite getting bailed out by the
U.S. government in 2009. Under the headline "Welcome to General Tso's Motors,"
Niedermeyer said China "is disproportionately benefiting" from the 2009
government-backed bankruptcy restructuring of GM.
In a letter to the Journal's editors published Monday, Selim Bingol, GM vice
president for corporate communications, wrote that any investment in China is
funded from sales in the world's largest car market.
Bingol said GM plans to invest $16 billion in its U.S. operations by 2016. He
wrote that "speculation over the possible loss of GM jobs or technology to China
is simple fear-mongering, offered without evidence because it doesn't exist."
Independent analysts say GM's position in China is critical to its global
profits.
In April, sales of the Shanghai-GM joint venture rose 29% to 121,559 units,
while sales of its SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture were up 6% to 134,815.
Buick enjoyed a 24% increase, while Chevrolet posted a 22% gain to 50,559.
Cadillac sales nearly doubled from a year earlier to 4,077 cars. GM wants to
triple Cadillac's annual sales in China to 100,000 vehicles by 2015.
Separately, the U.S. Treasury Department said Monday it would continue selling
GM shares. The government owned about 16% of GM at the end of March, and intends
to divest fully by a year from now.
Treasury has recovered about $30.4 billion from the $49.5 billion in emergency
aid it provided GM. By the time all government shares are sold, taxpayers can
expect a loss of more than $10 billion, barring an unexpected surge in GM's stock price.
