Automakers enjoyed their best October since 2007, with U.S. auto sales rising about 8 percent from last October to 1.02 million, according to Autodata Corp.
Industry sales jumped out to their strongest pace since April, with the industry recording a 10 percent sales increase in September, according to AutoData Corp. Leading the way were Chrysler, Mazda, Nissan and Volkswagen.
Citing recovering inventory levels and solid Labor Day Sales, J.D. Power and Associates expects September’s new-vehicle sales rate to outpace August.
A number of automakers experienced double-digit sales increases in August, with Chrysler leading the pack with 31 percent year-over-year increase in sales. Toyota and Honda, however, continued to grapple with supply issues.
The March 11 earthquake in Japan continued to impact Japanese automakers, with Toyota and Honda reporting notable decreases in July sales. Detroit automakers fared better, with Chrysler experiencing its best July in four years.
Edmunds.com anticipates that sales for Toyota rose 21.2 percent from June to July, but says sales for the Japanese automaker are still off by more than 20 percent compared to July 2010.
Despite still feeling the effects of the March 11 earthquake, Nissan Motor Co. reported a a 19.3 percent year-over-year increase in global production in May.
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.
Lowering gas prices and inventory shortages that were less severe than expected played key roles in the month-over-month improvement.
The automaker reported that vehicle deliveries topped three million during the year’s first five months of this year for first time in its history.
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