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GM record sales of 1.16 million vehicles in Europe

ZURICH – July 10, 2008: In the first half of 2008, General Motors (GM) sales in Europe reached a record of 1,160,935 vehicles*, an increase of 31,613 units (or 2.8 percent) compared to the same period of 2007. The company market share was 9.5 percent.

“GM is successfully managing to keep its sales momentum in Europe, thanks to an aggressive strategy for growth in Eastern and Central Europe. Despite the headwinds in some of the major western markets, I’m proud to say that our multi-brand strategy is paying off and thanks to a great teamwork we are quickly managing to leverage growth in the key new markets of Europe,” said Carl-Peter Forster, GM Europe President.

“The Chevrolet brand performance continues to drive our sales momentum in Europe in 2008. We are growing our brand awareness, as we launch vehicles that are right for the market place, like the new Aveo,” said Brent Dewar, GM Europe Vice President for Sales, Marketing and Aftersales.

“GM is also growing in Eastern Europe, with sales volume up 58 percent (ahead of the industry, at 35 percent) and market share up 1.6 point to 10.6 percent. In Russia, all GM brands are growing: Opel doubled its sales, Saab is up 81 percent, Chevrolet up 49 percent, Cadillac up 51 percent and Hummer up 21 percent. These remarkable results show that we have strong brands with an attractive portfolio of cars,” said Dewar.

Chevrolet continues record pace
Chevrolet continues building momentum in the European market, with strong sales performance across its model line-up. The brand registered its highest sales volume and market share ever in the first half of 2008, selling 268,200 units and reaching 2.2 percent share.

Sales of the new Aveo were up 58 percent, to 42,120 units. Captiva also kept a strong sales performance, with an increase of 11.3 percent to 22,320 units.

Opel grows volume in Central and Eastern Europe
Opel/Vauxhall sold 848,308 vehicles in Europe in January-June of 2008. Market share was at 7 percent. Strong results in Central and Eastern Europe somewhat offset a considerable general market weakening in Spain and Italy. Opel sales in Eastern Europe were up 81.4 percent and 17.2 percent in Central Europe.

Meriva was again the leading model in the small monocab segment, Zafira and Meriva led the total monocab segment.

GM sales up 60 percent in Russia
GM is keeping the sales momentum in Russia, with volume increasing 60 percent, up to 181,138 vehicles in the first half of 2008, significantly outpacing the industry’s 35 percent growth. Market share grew 1.8 point to 11.3 percent.

All GM brands are growing in the Russian market. Opel doubled its sales, with 53,523 units and 3.3 market share. Chevrolet grew 49 percent, to 125,701 units. Saab was up 80.5 percent.

Saab, Cadillac and HUMMER sales
Saab sold 39,418 cars in Europe. Cadillac sales grew by 9.5 percent compared to the first half of 2007 and HUMMER volume was up 29 percent.