General Motors will launch 17 new or updated models in China this year as it seeks to maintain dominance in the world's largest car market, the US auto giant's China boss said Friday. GM's vehicle sales in China rose an annual 11.3 percent last year to a record 2.84 million, according to the company.
"This year we're going to roll out 17 new or refreshed models in China," GM China president Bob Socia told a news briefing ahead of the weekend opening of the Shanghai auto show. GM has already launched a Cadillac luxury sedan, the XTS, in China this year as it seeks to make inroads into the luxury market. Other models to be launched this year include updates of the Buick LaCrosse and Buick Excelle, as well as three Opel models, Socia said. China's auto market could reach 30-35 million vehicles in the next decade on the back of steady economic growth and an expanding population, he said. "The growth in this country has just been unprecedented," Socia said.