Oct 1 (Reuters) - General Motors ( GM ) reported a 2.2%

fall in third-quarter sales of its new vehicles in the United

States on Tuesday, pressured by fewer sales days in the

three-month period and lower customer spending due to inflation.

Buyers have been shying away from big-ticket purchases such

as luxury vehicles and switching to utilitarian focused models

that are more affordable.

Sales of GM's compact affordable Trax SUV rose nearly 57% to

59,299 units from a year earlier.

Overall sales fell to 659,601 units from a year earlier. The

Detroit automaker's sales had grown about 21% during the same

period last year.

(Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini

Ganguli)