GM's U.S. December Sales Fall 31%, 2008 YTD Sales Down 23%

Once again, General Motors recorded a significant drop in U.S. sales in December delivering 221,983 vehicles, down 31 percent compared with a year ago. GM's December car sales of 87,506 units were off 25 percent while its truck sales of 134,477 units were down 35 percent compared to the same month last year. Despite the plunge, GM officials seemed happy to report that December deliveries were up 30 percent compared with October and up 43 percent compared with November.

"Given the ongoing challenges and the difficult market environment, we were very encouraged to see a volume rebound for GM in December compared with both October and November," said Mark LaNeve, vice president, GM North America Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing.

"We are building more vehicles than ever that provide great value and Americans enjoy owning. That is why, for the year, we are seeing our market share holding steady at just above 22 percent. That's 5 percentage points more and 760,000 vehicles more than our nearest competitor," added LaNeve.

For the year, GM sold 2,980,688 vehicles in the U.S. -down 23 percent compared with 2007, which allowed the company to maintain a market share just above 22 percent.