GM is World’s Largest Automaker Led by Chevrolet Sales

Built in the same plant as the late, unlamented Vega, Cruze is light years ahead of previous GM small cars.

Chevrolet sold 4.76 million vehicles around the world in 2011, setting a global sales record. Parent company General Motors (NYSE: GM) posted global sales of more than 9 million vehicles, a 7.6% increase compared with 2010.

As a result, GM gained four-tenths of a point of market share to 11.9% of the global industry. Sales increased in all four reporting regions – North America, South America, Europe and International Operations – as GM sold a total of 9,025,942 vehicles compared with 8,385,484 in 2010.

This makes GM the global sales leader once again. In 2011, the Volkswagen Group sold more than eight million vehicles for the first time in a twelve-month period, a total of 8.16 million vehicles (2010: 7.14; +14.3%). Natural disaster impeded Toyota has not reported final numbers yet but will move from first – where it has been since 2008 – to third at somewhere just under 8 million units.

On a corporate basis, GM’s two largest markets in 2011 were China, where GM and its joint venture partners increased sales 8.3% year over year to 2,547,203 vehicles, and the United States, where GM sold 2,503,820 vehicles, up 13.0% compared with 2010. GM is the market leader in both countries.

Chevrolet sales in the United States totaled 1,775,812, up more than 13% from 2010. Nevertheless, more than 60% of Chevrolet sales were outside the U.S. market. China posted record sales of 595,068, up 9.5% from the previous year. Other markets with significant year-over-year increases include Vietnam (79%), Russia (49%), Turkey (30%) and Germany (21%) from a small base. Chevrolet remains weak in Europe as GM struggles to sort out its money losing Opel Vauxhall operations in the midst of an EU debt crisis and four straight years of declining vehicle sales in EU countries.

The Chevrolet Cruze compact sedan led the brand with global sales of more than 670,000 in 2011, making it the best-selling Chevrolet nameplate around the world with more than 1.13 million sold since its launch in 2009. In the United States, Chevrolet was the best selling passenger car brand in 2011, thanks in large part to the success of the Cruze.