GM Spurts First China Quarterly Sales Growth In Two Years, With Mini Van Leading EV Sales

General Motors Company GM quarterly sales in China grew for the first time after two years, Reuters reported Tuesday.

What Happened: The Detroit-based automaker’s Chinese sales rose 12% in the quarter ended September compared with a similar period a year earlier.

GM reportedly delivered 771,400 vehicles in the third quarter. In the second quarter, deliveries had shrunk by 5%. 

The automaker’s Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV, a two-door vehicle, which sells for $4,200 was China’s best-selling EV in August, as per Reuters. 

Why It Matters: GM is the second-largest foreign automaker in China in terms of units, ranking behind Volkswagen AG VWAGY.

The Mary Barra-led company is looking to electric vehicles to account for over 40% of its new vehicle launches in China in the coming five years as China pushes a move towards greener vehicles, noted Reuters.

Chinese domestic and foreign EV manufacturers have reported strong numbers. Xpeng Inc XPEV sales grew 266% in Q3 to 8,578 EV units.

Nio Inc NIO delivered 12,206 units, which is 18.5% more vehicles quarter-over-quarter, while Li Auto Inc LI deliveries shot up 31.13% to 8,660 in the third quarter.

EV frontrunner, Tesla Inc TSLA sold 139,300 globally, which is a 53.67% growth in deliveries quarter-on-quarter in the same period but the company does not provide a geographic breakdown. 

Price Action: GM shares closed almost 0.2% lower at $32.16 on Friday.

Photo courtesy: Richard via Flickr