General Motors: Best Third Quarter Global Sales In Over 30 Years

General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) released a press statement on Wednesday morning that it's third quarter performance was its "best third quarter since 1980."

General Motors sold 2,449,595 vehicles globally in the third quarter, a 2 percent improvement from a year ago. Throughout 2014, General Motors sold 7,371,743 vehicles, also marking a 2 percent improvement.

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"GM delivered its best third quarter global sales in 34 years thanks to solid growth in the United States and China, and steady improvement in Opel's market share," General Motors CEO Mary Barra said in the press release. "We have launches now underway, including the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon in North America, the Opel/Vauxhall Corsa in Europe, and the Buick Envision and Cadillac ATS-L in China, that will keep our momentum going."

$GM delivers its best third quarter global sales since 1980, selling 2.4 million vehicles around the world. #GMsales http://t.co/Jwy22bR73E

— General Motors (@GM) October 15, 2014

The company's third quarter sales rose eight percent in the United States and 14 percent in China. The company considers these two markets to be its "two largest markets." The company adds that it is on track to deliver more than three million vehicles in China for the second consecutive year and may top 2013's record sales of 3.16 vehicles.

Shares of General Motors were recently seen trading lower by 1.7 percent at $29.60.