DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co said on Wednesday its global sales topped 2.5 million vehicles in the recent quarter, up 0.5 percent as it posted its best showing since 2005 for a second quarter.
In the first half of the year, GM's sales were 4.92 million vehicles, up 1.4 percent. That is behind Volkswagen AG's first-half 2014 global sales figure of 4.97 million vehicles, up 6 percent.
Toyota Motor Corp will issue its second-quarter and half-year global sales figures in August. The Japanese automaker was the 2013 sales leader at 9.98 million vehicles, ahead of VW at 9.73 million and GM at 9.71 million.
General Motors sold 2,505,889 vehicles in the second quarter, gaining 8 percent in China and 7 percent in the United States, its two largest markets.
GM's sales have diversified quite a bit since 2005.
This year, the United States accounted for 32.2 percent of GM's second-quarter global sales. That compares with 51.4 percent of GM's sales coming from the United States in the second quarter of 2005, when it sold 2.6 million vehicles around the world.
Toyota has been the global auto sales leader since 2008, other than 2011 when GM was tops. But that was the year Toyota was hampered by an earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
VW's figures for the first half of this year do not include its brands MAN and Scania.
(Reporting by Bernie Woodall; editing by Matthew Lewis)