GM global sales fall
Reuters, Detroit
General Motors Corp.'s global sales were more than 7 percent lower in the second quarter than last year, as growth in emerging markets such as China only partly offset sharp losses in the U.S. market, the automaker said on Friday.GM said global sales fell 7.6 percent, to 2.4 million vehicles in the second quarter, as sales in its U.S. home market fell 17 percent from a year earlier. Global sales were nearly 9 percent higher than the first quarter. On Friday, GM provided more details on its global sales figures, reflected in its second-quarter earnings released on Wednesday. GM had posted a larger operating profit than Wall Street expected, sending its shares up to 10-month high. GM shares on Friday edged up 41 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $32.53, below the high of $33.05 on Wednesday. The stock has risen 65 percent this year as investors have reacted to GM's cost-cutting efforts. The automaker, which lost $10.6 billion in 2005 and is in the midst of a wide restructuring, has been losing U.S. market share to rivals such as Toyota Motor Corp The Japanese automaker is expected to overtake GM as the world's largest automaker by sales volume within a year.
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