China's passenger car sales plunged 78.4% in the first two months of this year from the same period a year ago due to rising production and raw materials costs and an average 12% decline in selling prices, state media reported, citing the Shanghai Daily. In other auto news, General Motors Corp named its top UK executive, Kevin Wale, to succeed Philip Murtaugh, who resigned two days ago as chairman of GM's China unit. Wale earlier spent 15 years heading GM's Asia-Pacific region,