DETROIT -- General Motors says its December U.S. sales fell more than 6 per cent, but the company still finished the year with a 7.3 per cent increase.
GM says it sold more than 230,000 cars and last month, down from nearly 246,000 a year ago.
Sales of the Chevrolet Silverado pickup, GM's top-selling vehicle, fell 16 per cent in a month that traditionally has strong pickup sales.
The Chevy Malibu midsize car, which recently was updated, posted a 33 per cent sales gain.
For the full year, GM sales rose to nearly 2.8 million vehicles. That's expected to be slightly lower than the overall market increase of 8 per cent.
Auto sales overall were expected to rise 4 per cent in December.
All automakers report December and full-year sales on Friday.