(April 1, 2011) DETROIT – March capped a successful quarter for General Motors in the United States. Retail sales surged 38 percent for its four brands, driven by demand for Chevrolet’s all-new Cruze compact sedan. In spite of a decline in incentives, dealers reported 206,621 total sales during March, an increase of 11 percent. This total included a 17 percent increase in retail sales, compared to March 2010.

March’s retail sales increase was spurred by a 34-percent rise in passenger car retail sales, led by a 287 percent gain in retail sales of the Cruze over the car it replaced.

March deliveries to fleets declined 1 percent and represented 27 percent of the company’s total sales — the ninth straight month that fleet sales comprised less than 30 percent of total sales.

For the first three months, total sales increased 26 percent to 592,545 units compared to a year earlier. As a result, each of GM’s brands — Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac — gained retail and total market share during the quarter.

“Our plan was to get out of the gates quickly in the first quarter and we succeeded,” said Don Johnson, vice president, U.S. Sales Operations. “Consumers responded favorably to the value of our broad lineup of fuel-efficient cars, trucks and crossovers.”

In the first quarter, fleet sales represented 24 percent of the company’s total sales volume, compared to 30 percent in the first quarter of 2010.