General Motors, Toyota | featured news

General Motors said Tuesday that United States sales rose 11.5 percent in February over the period a year ago, including a 32.2 percent gain for the four brands it is keeping: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC.

US auto sales rose in January but were tempered by Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), which suffered a sales slide late in the month from a recall that led the auto maker to halt sales of more than half its vehicles.

Toyota is shutting the California factory it ran with General Motors for 25 years -- the first time the Japanese automaker is closing a major auto assembly plant ever.

General Motors is no longer the world's top-selling carmaker after it saw 2008 sales fall below those of Japanese rival Toyota.