• by Karl Greenberg , March 1, 2011

Alfred P. Sloan, GM's one-time chairman, was ringside for the infamous "long count" when Gene Tunney got those critical extra seconds to compose himself after being floored by Jack Dempsey. Were Sloan alive today he might see some Tunney-like parallels in his company's recovery from the recession. After all, General Motors got a bit of a long count of its own during the economic equivalent of the Dempsey left hook -- the 2009 freefall -- when the government, as referee, stepped in with a hand. Judging from this month's numbers, the General is looking fresh and ready to go another 12 rounds.

The automaker posted a 50% jump in sales last month, with 207,028 deliveries of Buick, GMC, Chevrolet and Cadillac. Retail sales alone were up 70%, which the company says is the highest year-over-year gain in its history. In the first two months this year, GM's total sales have risen 36%, with the retail portion of that up 52%. Retail sales of GM's cars, trucks and crossovers rose 76%, 74% and 59%, respectively.

"Our plan was to get off to a quick start this year, and we did just that," said Don Johnson, vice president, U.S. Sales Operations, in a statement. "Having the right vehicles in inventory, combined with aggressive advertising and targeted consumer marketing, has been the key to our success in the first two months this year."

The automaker says its sales last month were driven by Chevrolet Equinox, Silverado HD, Cruze and Volt, Buick LaCrosse and Regal; GMC Sierra HD and Terrain; and Cadillac SRX, CTS Wagon and CTS Coupe, whose combined retail sales are up 119% for the month, versus February last year.

The new Chevy Cruze compact car, which replaces the ho-hum Cobalt, has so far seen a 212% improvement versus that car. At retail (versus fleet) Chevrolet posted a 69% improvement; Buick a 90% increase; GMC a 61% improvement and Cadillac an 83% improvement at dealerships. The company says its only drop in sales were to rental fleets, which is a decline that most automakers are happy to post.

General Motors isn't alone. Ford sales were up 23% versus a year ago. Hyundai Motor America posted a 51% increase in retail sales -- its best February ever. Nissan and Kia also reported its best February sales numbers to date. For Honda, February was the fifth straight month of double-digit sales increases.