General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) sold 2.4 million vehicles globally in the first quarter of 2015, for a modest gain of 2% compared to a year ago. Sales in China increased 9% and deliveries in North America were up 6%. Opel/Vauxhall increased sales by 3% in Europe. However, GM Europe, South America and International had declines of -13.6%, -15% and -2.3% respectively.
During 2014 in global sales saw Toyota Number One, VW Group Number Two and GM having bragging rights to We’re Number Three. It appears to be a trend. VW Group posted sales of 2.49 million. Toyota reports sales later this week and is the odds on favorite to retain the Number One spot.
GM remains optimistic about the balance of the year; perhaps foolishly so as other automakers remain cautious.
“The momentum our brands are building in China, the U.S. and Western Europe more than offset difficult conditions in some other large markets like Russia and Brazil,” said GM CEO Mary Barra.
“We are in the early days of a very aggressive onslaught of new products and customer-driven innovation,” she said. “Already, the Chevrolet Trax and Colorado are redefining segments in the United States, Cadillac is growing rapidly in China and establishing a new formula for prestige sedans with the CT6 and Opel’s revitalization is accelerating across Europe. At the same time, we are deploying OnStar with 4G LTE in North America, Europe and China to give our customers the best connectivity experience in the industry.”
