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General Motors global sales rise 4 per cent in first half of year

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Core Tip:(Photo: GM/Mike Stone)DETROIT General Motors global sales grew almost 4 per cent in the first half of the year
General Motors global sales rise 4 per cent in first half of year

(Photo: GM/Mike Stone)

DETROIT General Motors global sales grew almost 4 per cent in the first half of the year, enough to fend off Volkswagen for second place and perhaps close the gap with sales leader Toyota.

GM said Tuesday that it sold 4.85 million cars and trucks worldwide from January through June. That puts GM on pace for sales of around 9.7 million for the year.

The Detroit automaker sold 9.3 million cars and trucks last year, about 450,000 less than Toyota Motor Corp. GM may have gained some ground on its Japanese rival this year by growing faster in the U.S., the worlds second-biggest car market.

GMs first-half U.S. sales rose by 8.7 per cent to 1.4 million, while Toyotas sales grew by 6.7 per cent to 1.1 million, according to Autodata Corp. Toyota is expected to release global sales figures later this month.

RELATED: Toyota recovers from earthquake to retake global auto sales crown from General Motors

Also, Toyota sales faltered in China during the first half because of a resurgence of anti-Japanese sentiment there due to a territorial spat over some tiny islands. GMs first-half sales in China, its largest market, rose almost 11 per cent to 1.57 million vehicles, the company said.

Toyota has a clear lead in its home market of Japan, the fourth-largest auto market in the world, wher competition from foreign brands is limited.

At the end of the first quarter, Toyota, which sells the Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands, held a slim global sales lead of 65,000 vehicles over GM.

Toyota and GM executives often say they dont care who wins the global sales race, and that growing profits is more important. But privately they like to win the race because its good for employee morale and national flag-waving.

GM was the top-selling carmaker for seven decades before losing the title to Toyota in 2008. GM retook the crown in 2011 when Toyotas factories were slowed by an earthquake and tsunami in Japan, leaving the company with few cars to sell. Toyota has since recovered.

General Motors Co. said that its global market share rose 0.1 percentage points in the first half to 11.5 per cent. GMs international operations were the biggest contributor, growing 7 per cent to just over 1.9 million vehicles. International Operations include the Asia-Pacific, Africa and Middle East regions. North America was in second-place with sales up 7.7 per cent to just over 1.6 million.

But those gains were offset somewhat by a 6.5 per cent dro in Europe, which is mired in recession, and a 1 per cent decline in South America.

GM has multiple brands including Chevrolet, Cadillac, Baojun, Buick, GMC, Holden, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling.

Alec Gutierrez, senior market analyst for Kelley Blue Book, said in an email that GMs U.S. growth has been fueled largely by rising sales of full-size pickup trucks.

The surge in truck demand has benefited GM beyond their home market by allowing them to close the gap with Toyota in the global sales race, he wrote, adding that newer compact and subcompact cars have also helped GM grow in segments wher it previously had few sales.

At Volkswagen AG, Global sales increased 5.5 per cent for the first six months despite slumping sales in Europe, its home market.

VW, which includes the Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Skoda and Seat brands, said last week that it sold 4.7 million vehicles during the first half. Keeping up that pace would give VW 9.4 million sales for the full year, better than last years 9.1 million but still short of GM and Toyota.

The company said it made satisfactory progress despite economic troubles, especially in Europe.

Volkswagens blistering U.S. sales growth of the past few years has slowed. Its sales grew only 3.3 per cent in the first half even though the market as a whole grew 8.4 per cent. Last year, VWs U.S. sales gained almost 31 per cent.

Ford Motor Co., GMs closest Detroit competitor, hasnt released its global first-half sales numbers, but it typically ranks well below GM, Toyota and VW.

Still, Ford reported strong growth in both the U.S. and China, wher it entered the market late but is rapidly expanding. Fords China sales rose 47 per cent to 407,721 in the first six months, mostly because of new products like the Kuga and EcoSport small SUVs. U.S. sales grew nearly 14 per cent to 1.29 million.


 
 
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