• by Karl Greenberg , April 23, 2012

Chevrolet sold 1.18 million vehicles worldwide in the first three months of 2012, a 6.5% increase over the first quarter of 2011, marking the sixth consecutive quarter in which it broke sales records. Chevrolet's global market share is now 6.3%.

General Motors Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson said, in a release, that the automaker will have more than 20 major vehicle launches in 2012 across all of its brands, "And some of the most important are Chevrolets, including the Sail in Asia, the Colorado in South America and the Spark in North America.”

Chevrolet Cruze led the brand with global sales of more than 180,000 in the first quarter, a nearly 20% increase over 2011, making it the best-selling Chevrolet nameplate around the world, per the automaker. In the United States Chevrolet sold 448,000 vehicles in the quarter, an increase of 7.6%. Chevrolet Europe sold 55,104 vehicles in Western and Central Europe, a 7.8% increase to give it 1.36% market share there up from 1.15% in the first quarter of 2011.