June was a standout month for Ford, GM, Nissan, Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz, all of which realized improvements from the year-ago month. Toyota showed decreases for June compared to last year and Honda continued to feel the effects of the March 11 earthquake in Japan. Overall, automakers realized month-to-month sales increases thanks to improved production capacity.

Ford: Total sales for Ford Motor Co. increased 14 percent vs. June 2010 to 194,114 units sold. Combined, sales of the Ford Fiesta and Focus increased 66 percent to 26,920 units, fueling a 20 percent sales increase for the Ford brand over last year. The automaker also reported a 17 percent increase in Lincoln brand sales. 

Toyota: Vehicle sales at Toyota Motor Sales dropped 24.1 percent to 110,937 units compared to the same period last year. On a daily sales rate basis, Toyota Division sales decreased 21.9 percent. Sales at Lexus dropped 40.2 percent to 10,773 units from June 2010. Despite the decreases in sales over last year, the automaker did see sales increases over last month as production capacity continued to improve ahead of the company’s expectations.

GM: General Motors’ total sales for June rose 11 percent from last year and 4 percent from May. The company gained market share in the first half of the year asretail demand for the company’s fuel-efficient vehicles continued to rise. Total sales of the Chevrolet Cruze surpassed 20,000 for the third straight month while the GMC Terrain and Chevrolet Equinox compact crossovers experienced a combined retail sales increase of 78 percent.

Honda: American Honda Motor Co. reported a 24.3 percent decrease in total sales for June, with the company selling a total of 83,892 units. The automaker saw production limitations improve, but reduced vehicle supplies reflected negatively on June’s sales results. Honda Division sales for the month decreased 24.5 percent to 75,184, while Acura Division sales decreased 22.8 percent vs. June 2010.

Nissan: Sales at Nissan North America decreased 11.4 percent vs. June 2010 to 71,941 units. Nissan Division sales increased 16.7 percent for the month, with 65,659 units sold. Infiniti vehicle sales decreased 24.3 percent to 6,282 units. Nissan LEAF sales reached a new high at 1,708 units sold for the month, marking the best-selling month thus far for the hybrid model.

Chrysler: Chrysler Group sales increased 30 percent compared to May and 46 percent vs. June 2010, marking the best retail sales month of the year and the 15th consecutive month of year-over-year gains. The Jeep, Dodge and Ram Truck brands all posted sales gains over last year. The company also reported an 82-percent year-over-year increase for the 2011 Chrysler 200.

Mercedes-Benz: Mercedes-Benz USA sold 22,563 units in June, an 18.8 percent increase vs. June 2010. This was the best month for the company in terms of June sales volume. The company also recorded a new first-half record for sales. Top volume performers for the month were the E-Class, C-Class and M-Class model lines. Sales of the G-Class also were up 89.1 percent for the month and the company sold 18 of its SLS AMG, bringing its year-to-date sales to 348.