GM January sales up 22 percent (Reuters)

DETROIT (Reuters) – General Motors Co posted a 22 percent rise in sales for January, outperforming expectations for the market as a whole on gains in demand for its pickup trucks.

GM sold 178,896 cars and trucks under its four brands in January, up from 146,825 a year earlier. The year-earlier tally included sales of 1,727 vehicles under the now-dropped Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Hummer brands.

Analysts expect industrywide auto sales for January to have posted a gain near 15 percent, suggesting GM would have taken market share in the month.

Sales of GM's full-size pickup trucks -- the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra -- rose by a combined 29 percent.