General Motors Post a 13.2% U.S. Sales Gain in 2011!

General Motors posts a 13.2% U.S. sales gain in 2011, including an uptick in December deliveries of 4.6%, closing the book on year where the restructured auto maker witnessed its first annual market-share gain in a decade. GM sold 2.5 million cars and trucks in 2011, up from 2.2 million units in 2010, according to WardsAuto data. December deliveries totaled 234,351, compared with 224,147 in like-2010. GM estimates, before all auto makers have finished reporting December results, that its share of the U.S. market grew 0.5% to about 19.3% in 2011. The company last reported a year-to-year share gain in 2002. “You can see clearly that our balanced portfolio of fuel-efficient cars, trucks and crossovers helped us make the most of the U.S. economy’s slow but steady recovery,” says Don Johnson, GM’s chief sales analyst. “And we’re very well-positioned to compete in a market that we expect to keep growing in 2012,” Johnson tells journalists and Wall Street analysts during a conference call to discuss the auto maker’s December and year-end sales results. GM forecasts industry sales in 2012 of between 13.5 million and 14.0 million light vehicles, up from an estimated 12.8 million in 2010. Johnson predicts pent-up demand, which built as consumers held off purchases during the recession, will continue to drive sales. An economy that adds more jobs in 2012 would provide upside to the auto maker’s forecast, he says.