NEW YORK (AP) -- General Motors Corp. said Friday its April sales sank 34 percent, but that's the smallest decline for the beleaguered Detroit-based automaker since December.
GM reported sales of 173,007 vehicles last month, compared with 260,922 in April of 2008.
The automaker sold 71,775 cars in April, down 41 percent from a year earlier when it sold 120,824 during the month. It sold 28 percent fewer trucks, down to 101,232 in April.
So far this year, GM has sold 585,910 vehicles -- a 45 percent drop from the nearly 1.1 million vehicles sold in January through April of last year.
Total sales in April improved 11 percent from March numbers, GM said.
On a month over month basis, Chevrolet sales were up 22 percent, Cadillac sales increased 2 percent and GMC sales rose 7 percent. Buick sales were up 21 percent.
General Motors on Monday laid out a massive restructuring plan that will cut 21,000 U.S. factory jobs by next year and phase out the storied Pontiac brand.
The company has been living on $15.4 billion in government loans and is seeking another $11.4 billion. If GM's restructuring plan can't satisfy the government by June 1, the struggling company could go into bankruptcy protection.
Earlier Friday, Ford Motor Co. said it grabbed a bigger slice of the U.S. car market in April on record sales of its fuel-efficient Fusion, even as its overall sales dropped 32 percent. Ford is the lone Detroit automaker that has declined federal assistance to help break out of the worst sales conditions in almost 30 years.
Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection on Thursday.
GM shares fell 11 cents, or 5.5 percent, to $1.82 in afternoon trading Friday.