General Motors Corp. (GM) said Friday that sales in Europe were down 6.5% on the year in 2008 at 2.04 million vehicles, which translates into a market share of 9.3%, against 9.4% in the prior year.

"I consider this a success in difficult times. We're encouraged with our sales performance as we are facing an unprecedented set of economic challenges due to the global economic crisis," said GM Europe President Carl-Peter Forster, adding that the industry faces "increasing headwinds."

In December, the European division of troubled U.S. auto giant posted sales of 150,893 vehicles, down 14% on the year.

Chevrolet was the company's only brand to post rising sales in Europe, with a 10.7% increase to 507,038 vehicles in 2008. Opel/Vauxhall faced a 10.5% decline to 1.46 million vehicles. The ailing Swedish Saab brand saw sales nosedive by 22% on the year to 66,582 cars in 2008.

Company Web site: www.gm.com

-By Christoph Rauwald, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29 725 512; christoph.rauwald@dowjones.com

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