General Motors Co. on Thursday said March sales rose 43%.

GM said sales of Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC rose 41%, 42% and 45%, respectively. Buick sales increased 76%. Part of the reason is that the financial crisis damped year-earlier sales.

The results are the first since GM last month overhauled its sales operations in North America for the second time in four months.

Higher customer incentives were also expected to boost overall March sales, sparked by Toyota Motor Corp., which is looking to draw back customers scared by its safety recall.

Write to Kevin Kingsbury at kevin.kingsbury@dowjones.com and John Kell at john.kell@dowjones.com

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