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General Motors Co plans to brings its GMC truck brand to China to help boost the automaker’s flagging fortunes in the world’s largest car market.
Sales of its Yukon large SUV will begin there this year, followed by GMC’s expansion to Australia and New Zealand in 2025, GM said in a statement.
China remains a critical market for automakers, which have found greater competition there as domestic brands have grown share at the expense of the likes of GM and Volkswagen AG.
VW entered China in 1978 and GM opened its first plant in 1997, before other non-domestic brands.
GM’s sales in the country fell 8.7% last year to 2.1 million vehicles, down from a peak of 4 million in 2017.
The US was GM’s largest market for the first time since 2009.
China profits once were reliably about $1 billion a year, but were just $194 million in the third quarter, down 42%.
GMC has been one of the Detroit manufacturer’s most successful brands at home, with its upscale pickup trucks and large SUVs, like the Yukon, growing in sales. It’s also one of the automaker’s most profitable divisions.