GM Korea Co., the local unit of General Motors Co. of the United States, said Monday that its sales for January plunged 20.2 percent from a year earlier as overseas demand turned sluggish.

South Korea’s third-largest carmaker sold a total of 53,606 vehicles last month, down from 67,210 sold for the first month of 2013, the company said in a press release.

Its domestic sales climbed 8.4 percent on-year to 10,873 units, on the back of demand for steady-selling models such as the Aveo subcompact, Cruze compact and Captiva recreational vehicle. The company said sales marked the highest numbers reached for the month of January since 2007, a good sign for the new year.

Overseas shipments, however, fell 25.3 percent to 42,733 vehicles.

GM has said it plans to scale back the market presence of its Chevrolet-badged vehicles in Europe, a step likely to hurt its South Korean affiliate, a major producer of Chevrolet cars.

The latest data showed the carmaker’s Chevrolet Spark supermini remained by far its best-selling model, with 3,936 units sold in the one-month period.

“The company posted its best ever domestic sales figures last year, and this is being carried over into the new year,” the company’s marketing vice president Marc J. Comeau said. (Yonhap)