China drives GM global auto sales up 2% in Q1

General Motors, the top US automaker, said Tuesday that it had sold 2.4 million vehicles globally in the first quarter, up 2.0 percent year-on-year as China sales boomed.

"The momentum our brands are building in China, the US and Western Europe more than offset difficult conditions in some other large markets like Russia and Brazil," said chief executive Mary Barra in a statement.

Sales in China, the world's largest auto market, surged 9.4 percent in the first three months of the year to 961,135 vehicles compared with a year ago.

GM noted that beginning this quarter, it was reporting deliveries to customers in China, as it does with other markets. Previously it had reported quarterly wholesale deliveries in China, which are cars and trucks sold to dealers.

In its number-two market, the United States, GM sold 648,039 vehicles, an increase of 5.3 percent from the 2014 first quarter.

Number-three market Brazil, whose economy is souring, had the worst performance. Sales plunged 18.2 percent to 111,924 vehicles, dragging down GM South America sales by 15.0 percent to 179,492.

GM Europe was not far behind, with sales down 13.6 percent at 291,582 vehicles.

The US automaker's Chevrolet vehicles were the only brand to post a global sales fall, down 4.3 percent from a year ago.

Global sales of GMC gained 14.5 percent, Buick was up 7.6 percent, and Opel/Vauxhall rose 3.0 percent. Luxury brand Cadillac, which recently underwent a marketing makeover, rose 2.5 percent, pulled higher by a 23 percent jump in China.