GM U.S. December sales up, industry on upswing

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General Motors posted a 7.5% rise in December U.S. car sales and said it expects the industry to report sales at a 13 mln-vehicle annualized rate for last month — far higher than many forecasts and what would be the highest rate of 2010.
GM said sales rose 16% in its four remaining U.S. brands in December from a year earlier, led by percentage gains in Buick and GMC. Retail sales to consumers jumped in the month and it reduced sales to rental car companies.
GM said results were led by a 42% jump in sales of its crossovers in December from a year earlier. The carmaker also sold 29% more full-sized pickup trucks, most of those 2011 model-year vehicles that command higher prices.
A year after its 2009 bankruptcy, and less than two months after its largest-ever IPO, GM remains the top-selling automaker in the United States. GM's U.S. sales rose 6.3% to 2.2 mln in 2010 from the prior year.
Economists surveyed by Reuters expect automakers to report sales at a 12.3 mln vehicle annualised rate in December, which would be the third consecutive month above the 12 mln-unit annualised rate followed by economists.
GM shares were up 1.3% at $37.54 on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday morning.
Ford, Toyota, Honda, Chrysler and Nissan are expected to report U.S. sales results later on Tuesday. Toyota is expected to be the only top-selling carmaker to report a U.S. sales decline for December.