GM global sales fall 22% y/y in first half of 2009

General Motors GM.UL posted on Wednesday a 22 percent global sales drop from a year earlier for the first six months of 2009 amid the economic slowdown and the automaker's slide into bankruptcy.

Still, GM global sales improved in the second quarter compared with the first quarter and the automaker's chief sales analyst said the U.S. economy has been showing increasing signs of stability and the global recession is approaching an end.

The automaker expects a modest recovery in the U.S. auto market into 2010. U.S. auto industry sales have been running at the worst levels in nearly three decades through the first half of the year.

GM said its global first-half sales, which include brands the automaker is trimming from its lineup, fell 21.8 percent to 3.55 million vehicles. The automaker's sales in the second quarter fell 15.4 percent to 1.94 million vehicles.

The automaker said second-quarter sales reflected continuing economic pressures and production cuts in the United States. It estimated a 12 percent second-quarter global market share, down 0.3 percentage point from a year earlier.

Sales in North America fell 39.5 percent in the first half of the year. GM Europe fell 24.4 percent and GM Latin America, Africa and the Middle East fell 18.3 percent. The Asia-Pacific region posted 21.5 percent sales growth in the first half of the year for GM with a strong performance in China, GM said.

GM emerged from bankruptcy protection on July 10, concluding a 40-day stay in Chapter 11 with a sale of its key operations to a new company majority-owned by the U.S. Treasury and pledging to win back American consumers and taxpayers.

The long run up to bankruptcy and through court protection no doubt had an impact on sales, but not as deeply as had been feared, GM officials said.

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