U.S. auto sales last month were the highest in four years

New York TimesU
Updated: October 2, 2012 - 7:53 PM

DETROIT - Unemployment is still high and the fiscal cliff is looming, but those worries didn't slow down the nation's car and truck buyers in September.

Autos flew off the lot at the highest sales rate in four years, adjusted for seasonal variations, according to the research firm Autodata.

Overall, a total of 1.19 million cars, trucks and SUVs were sold in the United States during the month -- a 13 percent increase from a year ago.

Japanese and German manufacturers led the sales boom, offsetting weaker results at General Motors and Ford.

The monthly sales rate equaled about 14.9 million vehicles on an annualized basis, and it was the highest seasonally adjusted rate since February 2008, according to Autodata.

Analysts said the robust pace was fed by consumers replacing older vehicles, the wide variety of new fuel-efficient models on the market and the greater availability of credit at low interest rates.

Overall industry sales are up 14.5 percent through the first nine months of the year, compared with the same period in 2011.

Many of the gains in September came at Toyota and Honda, the two big Japanese manufacturers that suffered product shortages after last year's tsunami in Japan.

"We all underestimated the strength of the Toyota and Honda brands and their customer loyalty," said Jesse Toprak, an analyst with the auto research website TrueCar.com. "They have not only gained back their market share, but increased it."

Toyota said that it sold 171,000 vehicles during the month, a 41.5 percent increase from a year ago. The company reported that sales of its Prius gas-electric hybrid cars more than doubled from last year.
Honda reported that its sales grew 30.9 percent, to 117,000 vehicles.

The company benefited from high demand for its two bestselling passenger cars, the Civic and the Accord. Honda began selling a new version of the Accord in the middle of the month.

The performance of Toyota and Honda contrasted with essentially flat sales at both GM and Ford, partly because of tepid sales of pickup trucks.

GM said Tuesday that its overall sales grew by 1.5 percent during September, in what the company said were its best results for the month since 2008. GM said it sold 210,245 vehicles, and passenger cars led the way with a 29 percent gain.

But sales of the company's pickups, which are big profit producers, dropped by 20 percent during September. GM attributed the decrease partly to a reduction in sales to rental fleets.

Ford's total sales for the month were down 0.1 percent. Truck sales dropped 7.6 percent, wiping out gains made by new cars and SUVs, like the Ford Fusion and Escape.

Chrysler continued its steady comeback as September sales increased 11.5 percent from the same period a year ago. The company benefited from the introduction of its Dodge Dart compact sedan.

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