SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- General Motors Co. on Tuesday posted a double-digit gain in February U.S. sales that was driven by strong demand for cars not burdened with Pontiac, Hummer, Saab or Saturn nameplates. Overall, the Detroit giant reported an 11.5% rise to 141,951 cars and trucks. But excluding the brands that GM is shedding, sales jumped 32% from a year ago.
"Although we've been operating as a new company with four brands for just seven months, our February results demonstrate that our long-term plan is already paying dividends," Susan Docherty, head of GM's sales and marketing, said.
Buick came in with a 47% surge to 9,121 vehicles, while sales of Chevy, GM's top brand, rose to 99,999 cars and trucks, a 32.4% jump.
Conversely, Pontiac sales all but disappeared, down to 84 vehicles from 14,200 a year ago. Hummer, which saw its sale to a Chinese company fall through last week, posted a 71.9% drop to 296 vehicles. Saab and Saturn also saw huge declines.
The upbeat report follows closely on the heels of GM's announced recall of 1.3 million compact cars sold in North America over the past five years due to problems with power-steering functions. See full story.
The rest of the industry will post their results later in the day, and all eyes will be on how much damage Toyota Motor Corp.'s /quotes/comstock/13*!tm/quotes/nls/tm (TM 74.31, +0.67, +0.91%) recall woes did to the Japanese automaker's monthly tally.
"But there was more to February's story than the Toyota headlines," Kelley Blue Book analyst Jack Nerad said. "Record snow in the Mid-Atlantic states paralyzed sales in those regions for several days during the month, demonstrating that acts of God can also have their effects on what is proving to be a very fragile recovery."
Still, most manufacturers are expected to report positive strides from a year earlier.