GM's China sales up 10% in Q1

GM and its Chinese joint venture partners plan to open a $1 billion factory in the western city of Chongqing in 2015 that will produce 400,000 cars a year.

GM sold a record 816,373 vehicles in China in the last quarter, a 10 percent jump from a year ago.

As part of its effort to win over Chinese luxury-vehicle buyers who favor German brands BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz, the US company in February put its XTS Cadillac sedan on sale in China.

Buyers responded by snapping up more than 2,000 of the cars in March, despite the $56,000 price-tag.

GM China President Bob Ferguson has said he expects Cadillac sales in China to triple to 100,000 by 2015.

Profits in GM's international operations, including China, fell 5 percent to $495 million, and gains in China helped offset weakness in other regions, including India, GM said.

Earnings in North America fell 12.5 percent to $1.4 billion.

The company's results came a day after GM apologized and removed a Chevrolet commercial that included a song referring to "the land of Fu Manchu" where girls say "ching-ching, chop suey".

The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post deemed the ad "racist" in a headline.

"Our intent was not to offend anyone and we're deeply sorry if anyone was offended," Ryndee Carney, a Detroit-based GM spokeswoman, told Bloomberg News.

"We're reviewing our advertising approval processes to make sure this doesn't happen again."

The English-language ad for the Chevrolet Trax SUV featured a 1920s motif and included music from Austrian performer Parov Stelar. The ad had been running on television in Canada since March and was posted to Chevy's European website.

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