GM Takes GMC to China, Australia and New Zealand in 2024

General Motors is expanding its GMC truck and utility-vehicle brand this year into China, Australia and New Zealand.

The automaker has long sold the Buick brand in China, its leading brand there, and also sells Chevrolet and Cadillac in addition to Chinese brands Wuling and Baojun. In Australia and New Zealand, much smaller but growing markets, GM shut down its Holden brand in 2020, so the addition of GMC is a return to the market.

“GMC is in the most exciting era in its history as we expect to grow competitively in our home market while venturing into new ones,” says Duncan Aldred, global vice president, Buick and GMC. “We’re forging our future as a premium truck and SUV brand and our success shows our customers around the world are just as excited as we are for the road ahead.”

GMC finished 2023 in the U.S. with a 6.5% year-on-year increase in retail sales, its best performance since 2017. The Sierra LD and HD fullsize pickup achieved its best combined year of sales and its sixth consecutive year of growth in the truck segment. GM reignited the Hummer brand inside the GMC network with the Hummer SUV EV and the Hummer Pickup EV in 2021.

GM is hoping that launching GMC in China, which posted total light-vehicle sales of 30.09 million in 2023, can partially make up for sales declines of its other brands last year – Chevrolet down 27.4%, Buick down 25.9% and Cadillac down 4.98%, per Wards Intelligence – at a time when there is mounting interest in EV pickups and utility vehicles.

Electric-vehicle sales are climbing in China, Australia and New Zealand, and GMC will be adding a Sierra EV by the end of 2024 or early 2025. With U.S. demand for EVs still growing but slowing, the additional markets give GM new outlets for EV production.

Australia and New Zealand are both growing markets. Total sales in Australia in 2023 were 1,216,780, per Wards Intelligence, setting a new record for annual sales. Toyota, Mazda and Hyundai hold the top three sales spots in that order. Ford is No.6 in the market.

New Zealand’s passenger-car sales have increased each of the past nine years. Between 2010 and 2019 the market doubled, moving from 80,453 sales in 2010 to 160,878 by the end of 2019. Sales in 2023 were 149,260.