General Motors sold 9.02 million vehicles last year, more than any of its competitors. GM said in a statement that Chevrolet, its most popular brand, sold 4.76 million vehicles - more than half of GM total sales and a record for the brand that last year marked its 100th anniversary. GM came ahead of Volkswagen who reported on 8.16 million vehicles sold and Toyota, who dropped to third place but still has to report 2011 sales figures.

GM's sales in North America grew by 11.4% to 2.92 million vehicles, a market share of 18.4%. European sales grew by 8.8%, despite the overall sales drop in the European market to 1.74 million vehicles. Sales of international operations that included among others China and India, grew by a moderate 7.5% to 3.3 million vehicles. Chevrolet's second biggest market after the U.S. was Brazil, with sales of 632,200 vehicles followed by China with 595,000 total vehicles sold. Total GM sales grew by 7.6% to 9.03 million vehicles to a global market share of 11.9%. According to the math, last year 75 million vehicles were produced by the world automotive industry.

GM emerged from bankruptcy two years ago as a new company, though with the same culture and traditions. In 2010, the company made an IPO and became, once again, a public company. The U.S. government still owns some 30% of the shares and is unwilling to sell them, since they have lost about 30% of their value since the IPO. Since the beginning of the year, GM shares rose by 16%.