The headlines are blaring how GM sold more cars in China, a first for the corporation, than the United States. Their sales in China alone are up 28.8% from a year ago.

GM's sales in China rose 28.8% last year to 2,351,610 vehicles, GM said Monday. U.S. sales rose just 6.3% to 2,215,227

Unfortunately the financial press then tries to tie those sales to mean more U.S. jobs. That is simply not the case.

The company said the expansion will generate 750 jobs for the Flint plant, which makes Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups and has been operating on two shifts per day. The last time the plant worked around the clock was in the second quarter of 2008.

GM will fill the shift by recalling laid off workers who will start arriving in the second quarter. It expects to hire no new employees.

The Flint factory employs about 2,100 hourly and salaried workers. It made 115,000 trucks last year.

Last year, GM sold 8.39 million autos. Toyota is still #1 with 8.42 million car sales.

What the press and GM are not telling you is that sales in China are extensively through Joint Ventures. A joint venture means a Chinese company is partnering with GM, but they have their own plants, their own factories, their own manufacturing and their own workers.

As an example of the media spin, recently an export deal to China of $400 million in vehicle exports and $500 million in components over two years was announced.

What they are not telling you is this very JV, or Chinese company, made & sold 1.03 million of the 2.35 million GM cars sold in China.