DETROIT -- Sales are up at General Motors so far in December compared with the same periods in October and November.
Despite the flood of bad economic news and the possibility of GM's filing for bankruptcy protection, new-vehicle sales for the first few weeks of December are ahead of the pace set in the first few weeks of October and November. Mark LaNeve, GM vice president North American sales, service and marketing, provided the information in an e-mail to dealers today.
For the full month, GM doesn't expect sales to be higher than year-ago figures, but they could be stronger than they have been for the past 60 days, according to the memo.
"We have great incentives in the market and our December sales pace has been strong compared to October and November," LaNeve wrote.
December is traditionally a strong month for sales, according to J.D. Power and Associates. Power forecasts December U.S. retail sales will total 710,000, up from 595,000 in October and 668,000 in November.
Trucks are hauling GM sales out of the trough.
GM spokesman Pete Ternes said sales of GM's pickups, the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, are leading the way, and sales of cars, especially small cars, are slumping.
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