Double-Digit Gains in August Car Sales

By BILL VLASIC
Published: September 4, 2012

DETROIT – Major automakers reported solid sales gains in August in the United States, as consumers responded to higher gas prices by buying more compact cars and small S.U.V.'s.

The Detroit car companies all reported double-digit increases in sales for the month compared with the same period a year ago.

General Motors, the nation’s largest auto manufacturer, said its American sales grew 10 percent to 240,000 vehicles in August. The increase was driven by a strong performance by its Chevrolet passenger cars, particularly the new Sonic subcompact model.

G.M. also reported one of its best sales months ever for the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid. The company said it sold 2,800 Volts during August, compared with 300 a year earlier.

“Although trucks had a solid month, the small-car performance is what’s most impressive about G.M.'s numbers today,” said Jessica Caldwell, an analyst with the automotive Web site Edmunds.com.

Ford Motor Company said its August sales increased 13 percent to 197,000 vehicles. It reported its biggest gains in the Focus compact car and the new Escape, its smallest sport utility vehicle.

Focus sales were up 35 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, and Escape sales rose 36 percent.

“As fuel prices rose again during August, we saw growing numbers of people gravitate toward our fuel-efficient vehicles,” said Ken Czubay, Ford’s head of United States sales and marketing.

The company also said pickup sales are steadily increasing in conjunction with a slow recovery in the housing market. Sales of the F-series pickup climbed 19 percent during August, with a large percentage of those buyers choosing trucks with high-mileage six-cylinder engines.

The overall strength of the American market prompted Ford to announce it would build 725,000 vehicles in North America during the fourth quarter, a 7 percent increase from the same period a year earlier.

Chrysler, the smallest of the Detroit car companies, said its August sales increased 14 percent to 148,000 vehicles.

The increase was attributed in part to sales of the all-new Dodge Dart compact sedan. Chrysler, which previously lacked a competitive model in the small-car segment, said it sold 3,000 Darts in August.

Reid Bigland, Chrysler’s head of United States sales, called the American industry “incredibly resilient,” and estimated the seasonally adjusted, industrywide annual sales rate at 14.6 million vehicles in August.

Foreign automakers were also expected later in the day to report healthy sales improvements, particularly Toyota and Honda, which were hampered a year ago by inventory shortages in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

One of the fastest-growing auto companies in the United States, the German carmaker Volkswagen, said it sold 41,000 vehicles in August. That represents a 62 percent improvement over sales in the same period last year.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/05/bu...car-sales.html