GENERAL Motors Co's Chinese partner reported full-year profit rose 23 percent on demand for the top-selling Buick Excelle and Chevrolet Cruze sedans.

SAIC Motor Corp's net income rose to 20.2 billion yuan (US$3.2 million) last year, the Shanghai-based company said in a statement to the city's stock exchange yesterday. That compares with the 18.4 billion yuan average of nine analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg News. Sales rose 18.9 percent to 434.8 billion yuan.

Growth in China's vehicle deliveries slowed to 2.5 percent last year from a 32 percent pace in 2010, after the government withdrew a two-year package of tax breaks and rebates. Passenger-car sales had their worst two-month start in seven years in January and February as a slowing economy and higher fuel prices dented consumer confidence.

Last year's vehicle sales rose by 12 percent, SAIC said in a preliminary earnings statement on January 30. China's auto market conditions this year will be better than 2011, helping the overall market grow 7 percent and boosting SAIC's sales by 8 percent to 4.33 million vehicles, President Chen Hong said in an e-mail on March 9.

SAIC, which also makes cars for Volkswagen AG, will need to closely monitor demand from so-called third- and fourth-tier cities, Chen said.