Cruze cruises to best-ever February sales

DETROIT — The Chevrolet Cruze posted its best February on record, as sales increased by 21.7 percent last month as compared to last February.

General Motors sold 21,836 units of the Lordstown-built compact in February, compared to 17,947 during the same month in 2013. Sales for the first two months of the year were up 19 percent, with 38,664 units sold.

February sales across all of GM’s brands slid by 1 percent in a year-over-year comparison. The automaker delivered 222,104 vehicles in the United States last month, compared to 224,314 last February.

Retail and fleet sales were both down 1 percent.

“Despite a slower start to 2014 than most people expected, we look forward to a very successful year,” Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president of sales operations said in a statement.

“Weather continued to impact the industry in February, but GM sales started to thaw during the Winter Olympic Games as our brand and marketing messages took hold,” he said.