General Motors June Sales Up 1% Despite Recalls Of More Than 25 Million Vehicles

General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM), which has been struggling with an unprecedented number of vehicle recalls this year, defied expectations Tuesday by reporting a 1 percent U.S. sales increase for June, the company's best since 2007.

GM delivered 267,461 vehicles last month in the U.S., more than the 247,767 that analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected, on average. On a selling-day adjusted basis, sales jumped 9 percent.

"June was the third very strong month in a row for GM, with every brand up on a selling-day adjusted basis," Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president of sales operations, said in a statement.

The news comes a day after GM announced six recalls affecting 7.6 million vehicles in the U.S., bringing the total number of recalled vehicles to 29 million, reports Reuters.

The Associated Press reports the June increase was led by SUV sales, particularly the Buick Encore and Chevrolet Tahoe. According to GM, the June 2014 sales number was the company's best since 2007.

The June sales report comes amid a series of big vehicle recalls. GM's ignition switch recall has been linked to 16 deaths, notes Reuters, and GM said it would pay at least $1 million for each death.

"The first half of the year was our best retail sales performance since 2008, driven by an outstanding second quarter," McNeil said.

Buick sales, in general, were up siginificantly, with Encore seeing an 82 percent increase in deliveries followed by a 33 percent increase for LaCrosse. GMC saw its best June sales in eight years due to the redesigned 2014 Yukon, which had a 120 percent increase in deliveries. Despite the strong sales of the Tahoe, Chevrolet sales were down 2.5 percent, due to poor Malibu and Impala sales, reports USA Today.