G.M.’s sales in China zoom past U.S.

In all, GM sold roughly 2.35 million cars and trucks in China last year, an increase of 29 percent over 2009. The company’s sales in the United States totaled 2.22 million in 2010, around 6 percent more than the previous year.

According to The Associated Press, 2010 was the first year in GM’s 102-year existence that it sold more vehicles in China than in the United States. 

That announcement comes shortly after President Hu Jintao of China visited Washington, where he got a hard sell from President Obama on trade.  

“We want to sell you all kinds of stuff,” Obama told Hu during a joint news conference. “We want to sell you planes, we want to sell you cars, we want to sell you software.”

During Hu’s time in Washington, the Obama administration also talked up $45 billion in export deals to China. The president’s National Export Initiative — which Obama announced during his State of the Union address last year — has a stated goal of doubling exports over a five-year span. 

As for GM, it sold roughly 8.39 million vehicles in 2010, a 12 percent increase over 2009. That put the automaker a touch behind Toyota, which sold 8.42 million vehicles last year. According to Bloomberg, Toyota’s sales in China spiked 19 percent in 2010.