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GM: Chinese Sales Top Two Million Again

The company reached the milestone today, more than two weeks earlier than it hit the 2 million mark in 2010.

DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Co. said Tuesday that it has sold more than 2 million cars and trucks in China for the second straight year.

The company reached the milestone on Tuesday, more than two weeks earlier than it hit the 2 million mark in 2010.

GM said Buick sales are up 24 percent in China this year, with Chevrolet sales rising 18 percent and Cadillac sales up 73 percent.

For all of 2010, GM sold 2.35 million vehicles in China, but it is on pace to surpass that number this year.

The Detroit company sold more cars and trucks in China last year than it did in the U.S., for the first time in its 103-year history. But that could change this year. Through September, GM sold just over 1.9 million vehicles in the U.S., according to Autodata Corp., so U.S. sales are running at about the same pace as China.

China overtook the U.S. to become the world's biggest auto market, by sales of new vehicles, in 2009. Last year, passenger car sales rose by a third to 13.7 million vehicles, while total vehicle sales topped 18 million.

Shares of GM rose 15 cents to $23.33 in midday trading Tuesday.