U.S. car sales are out of rut
Wed 04 Nov 2009
Salesman Kevin Davis, left, helps Jim Baillie shop for a car at a Ford dealership in Raleigh, N.C. The nation's No. 2 automaker saw sales increase about 3% in October from the same month in 2008.
After two years of sputtering, U.S. auto sales are finally gaining some traction.
Sales of cars, pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles were virtually unchanged in the United States last month compared with October 2008 -- a victory for an industry that has suffered through two years of devastating losses. Not counting August's 1% gain, when sales were goosed by the government's "cash for clunkers" program, it was the only month since October 2007 that auto sales weren't solidly in the red.
Automakers sold 838,052 vehicles in the U.S. last month compared with 838,156 a year earlier, according to results released Tuesday by the automakers and compiled by research firm Autodata Corp.
Sales rebounded smartly from the sharp drop suffered in September after "cash for clunkers" ended. Calculated on an annualized basis, October sales ran at a 10.46-million-unit clip. That's below historic levels, but it's a vast improvement over September's 9.22-million annualized rate.
"We're seeing the industry get some legs under it," said Mike DiGiovanni, General Motors Co.'s top sales analyst.
Not that the auto executives were driving victory laps. They cautioned that high unemployment and the dampening effect it is having on consumer confidence would continue to weigh on auto sales through the end of the year and into 2010.
Sales of cars, pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles were virtually unchanged in the United States last month compared with October 2008 -- a victory for an industry that has suffered through two years of devastating losses. Not counting August's 1% gain, when sales were goosed by the government's "cash for clunkers" program, it was the only month since October 2007 that auto sales weren't solidly in the red.
Automakers sold 838,052 vehicles in the U.S. last month compared with 838,156 a year earlier, according to results released Tuesday by the automakers and compiled by research firm Autodata Corp.
Sales rebounded smartly from the sharp drop suffered in September after "cash for clunkers" ended. Calculated on an annualized basis, October sales ran at a 10.46-million-unit clip. That's below historic levels, but it's a vast improvement over September's 9.22-million annualized rate.
"We're seeing the industry get some legs under it," said Mike DiGiovanni, General Motors Co.'s top sales analyst.
Not that the auto executives were driving victory laps. They cautioned that high unemployment and the dampening effect it is having on consumer confidence would continue to weigh on auto sales through the end of the year and into 2010.
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