US auto sales growth is at its best rate for year
US CAR sales rose to near their highest level of 2011 in October, early sales results showed, although shares in General Motors and other automakers tumbled yesterday on concern that the industry’s slow recovery could falter.
Chrysler posted a 27 per cent gain in October US sales – its best result in four years – as major carmakers reported results pointing to the strongest showing for industry-wide vehicle sales since the start of the calendar year.
General Motors posted a sales gain of two per cent in October, a weaker gain than some analysts had expected for the top US carmaker.
GM said that it expected industry-wide sales of light vehicles would top the 13.3m sales rate the industry saw in February of this year.
US auto sales, which are tracked as one of the earliest snapshots of consumer demand, slipped in the spring and early summer amid concerns about the prospect of a renewed downturn in the US economy and supply disruptions triggered by the March earthquake in Japan.