GM China sales drop 15 percent in third quarter as market stalls

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - General Motors Co's China sales fell 14.9 percent in the third quarter of the year, hit by a wider slowdown in the market and faltering Chinese economic growth amid a whipsawing trade war with the United States.

The U.S. car maker sold 835,934 vehicles in the July-September quarter, down from the same period the year before, which the firm said was due to a "softening" vehicle market and issues shifting to a new engine system with its Buick brand.

China's automobile sales have been falling in recent months, hurt by a slowing economy and due to trade frictions with the United States making consumers cautious about spending.

 

GM's second-quarter sales in China, the world's largest auto market, had inched up 0.7 percent, slowing from an 8 percent rise in the January-March quarter.

(Reporting by Adam Jourdan and Norihiko Shirouzu; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)