US auto giant General Motors said Wednesday its US sales fell 1.2 percent in May from a year earlier, in a sign of slowdown in the recovery of the industry and the US economy at large.
The producer of Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, and Buick brands sold 221,192 vehicles compared to 223,822 in May 2010, when the economy was beginning to pick up growth after recession.
GM suggested the May decline was in part due to a lower number of "selling days" during the month this year - 24 days - compared to last year's 26.
Even so, growth was clearly slower: for the first five months of the year, US sales of 1.05 million units were up 18.2 percent from the same period in 2010.