Detroit looks east: GM sells more cars in China than in the US  

The Guardian has a looking at some surprising car sales figures - Detroit looks east: GM sells more cars in China than in the US.

Here's a remarkable sign of the shifting balance of global trade - for the first time in its 102-year history, Detroit's biggest carmaker, General Motors, is selling more cars in China than it does in the United States.

GM and its joint venture partners reported 1.21m vehicle sales in China during the first six months of 2010, compared to 1.08m deliveries in the US. The figures offer a clue of how GM has achieved a remarkable resurgence from bankruptcy a year ago to profitability and a likely re-entry to the stockmarket.

Growth in Chinese demand has been phenomenal as the country's population of 1.3bn becomes more affluent and Beijing's economic stimulus efforts fuel purchases of cars.

Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports that China's industry-wide vehicle sales leapt by 46% to 13.6m last year, passing the US to become the world's largest automotive market. In recession-battered America, high fuel prices and household austerity hurt the usual appetite for car purchases, as did chapter 11 filings by GM and Chrysler.