But the world's largest car maker is still the biggest foreign auto manufacturer in the No. 2 auto market globally, ahead of Volkswagen, Ford and Japanese peers.

GM and its domestic joint ventures sold a combined 311,512 vehicles in China in the first three months this year, an increase of 6.8 percent from the same period last year, the car maker said in a statement yesterday.

This compared to the 20.41 percent sales rise for the overall car market and a 25-percent growth for the same period last year from 2006 level.

Volkswagen's sales in the country climbed 32 percent to 268,200 vehicles while Ford sold 47 percent more to a record high of 90,791 units after they launched the Skoda Octavia and Ford Focus.

Analysts are worried GM's disappointing quarterly sales meant the car maker is going to face a tough 2008 because it lacks new models to lure customers.

Shanghai GM, the company's flagship joint venture, improved sales by 13.6 percent to 128,649 units while its mini van joint venture, SAIC-GM-Wuling, delivered 182,564 units, up 3.8 percent from a year earlier.

Yale Zhang, chief analyst at CSM Asia Corp in Shanghai, said GM needs to introduce more models that meet market demand in China.

"The poor and weak sales could be improved with its aggressive plan to launch the most up-to-date models from next year,'' he said. "The new green car strategy may also contribute to its brand image, but the impact on sales will be realized over the long term.''

Shanghai GM will unveil the new Buick Excelle, one of the top three best-selling models in China over the past decade, this weekend to help boost sales following the launch of the remodeled Chevrolet Aveo and the new Cadillac CTS.