GM: US sales rise in July

General Motors said Tuesday that sales picked up 7.8 percent in July from a year ago, with strong volume coming from its GMC pickup trucks and Chevrolet Cruze sedans.Total sales hit 214,915 vehicles for the month, with the GMC brand soaring 36 percent to 37,918 vehicles.Chevrolet sales climbed 6.5 percent to 149,005 vehicles, GM said.Buick sales were nearly flat, gaining only 0.4 percent to 16,783 vehicles, while Cadillac sales slumped 25 percent to 11,119 vehicles."Sales of our fuel-efficient cars like the Chevrolet Cruze and our crossovers remain strong, and we're now also seeing the seasonal lift in full-size pickups that we expected," Don Johnson, GM's vice president for US sales, said in a statement.The Detroit, Michigan-based car manufacturer said it sold 24,658 units of its Chevrolet Cruze in July, the fourth straight month in which Cruze sales have exceeded 20,000.Some 19 percent of Cruze retail sales were purchases of its fuel-efficient Cruze Eco model, the company said.GM, the United States's largest automaker, has returned to profitability since emerging from government-sponsored bankruptcy reorganization in 2009. From / Arabian Business