General Motors Co. sold 9.71 million vehicles globally last
year, a 4% increase over 2012, as robust U.S. and Chinese markets
offset a softer European region that plagued the auto maker all
year.
Sales in North America, primarily driven by the U.S., rose 7% to
3.23 million units, while the company's international operations
notched 3.89 million in sales for the year.
The results provide a view into the auto maker's financial
health and suggest GM could issue a bullish outlook for the year
when it announces its 2014 forecast Wednesday. Investors and
analysts expect the Detroit-based auto maker to share a taste of
its success by declaring a dividend or announcing a stock
buyback.
Forecasters expect the U.S. to notch another strong year of car
sales this year, while the European economy is showing signs it has
bottomed out and may be ripe for a small recovery.
But whether that is enough for GM to overtake Toyota Motor Corp.
is still a question. Japan's Toyota recaptured the title of the
world's largest auto maker in 2012 when it turned in sales of 9.75
million vehicles.
GM had been the king of global sales for 77 years through 2007,
when it finished just barely ahead of Toyota. Toyota then took the
top spot in 2008, 2009 and 2010 before GM bounced back.
For last year, GM vehicle sales in Europe fell 3% to 1.55
million units, while South America slipped 1% to 1.04 million cars
compared with the same period a year earlier.
Breaking down the results by brand, Chevrolet was relatively
flat with 4.98 million sales, a 19,304-unit improvement over last
year. Cadillac, meanwhile, jumped 28% to 250,830 vehicles, while
Buick rose 15% to 1.32 million.
GM's German Opel/Vauxhall brands turned in a combined 1.06
million in sales, down 4,061 vehicles over the same period last
year.
Volkswagen Group appears to have once again secure its
third-place position, delivering 9.5 million vehicles excluding
heavy trucks.
Write to Jeff Bennett at jeff.bennett@wsj.com.
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