GM growth in China, Brazil outpaced US growth in 2010

A customer 'kicking the tires' at at Shanghai Buick dealership.

For the first time in its history, General Motors (GM) sold more cars in foreign markets than in the U.S.

GM’s Chinese sales were at 2.35 million vehicles a 28.8 percent growth, compared to U.S. sales of 2.22 million and climbed by only 6.3 percent.    Brazil too outpaced U.S. sales percentage-wise with a 10.4 percent increase in sales, to about 658,000 cars.

“This is the wave of the future,” said George Magliano, an economist at IHS Automotive. “The Chinese market is going to grow faster than the U.S., and it will continue to be this way.”

GM fell just behind Toyota as the world’s largest car manufacturer by 30,000 units and may be poised to pass Toyota in 2011.  Toyota, a name synonymous with quality, was stung by a series of auto recalls in the U.S. and other markets in 2010.

GM recently projected  that they would export about $900 million in vehicles and components over the next two years to  China and appear to be well poised for future growth.   They partner with two other Chinese companies in China and they just announced that they were adding a third shift to their factory in Flint, Michigan as demand for their pickup truck strengthens.