GM to Ford Sales Climb in Best Month for U.S. Since 2007

[Purveyor]

Source: Bloomberg

By Craig Trudell - Sep 4, 2013

General Motors Co. (GM), Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) and Ford Motor Co. (F) reported U.S. sales gains for August that exceeded estimates as analysts projected the best month for industry demand in six years.

Sales of cars and light trucks rose 15 percent for GM, 23 percent for Toyota and 12 percent for Ford, according to company statements. The results compared with average estimates for gains of 11 percent by GM, 15 percent for Toyota and 10 percent for Ford in a survey by Bloomberg News.

GM, Ford, and Chrysler Group LLC have closed unneeded factories and rolled out better cars that are drawing demand from both retail and fleet buyers, lifting the average prices paid for new vehicles to record highs. That means today’s industry is much healthier than six years ago, the last time automakers sold as many cars and trucks.

“In 2007, we were achieving that sales level by giving cars away because the auto companies had too many factories,” John Casesa, senior managing director at Guggenheim Partners LLC, said today on Bloomberg Radio. “Today, there’s real demand for that product. It’s a fundamentally different industry.”

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-04/chrysler-u-s-sales-climb-as-marchionne-weans-from-fleets.html

[fasttense]

1. Best sales? Equal to the year the economy collapsed?

Didn't some economic board declare that the Great Recession actually started in 2007? So they are saying their sales were equal to when the economy collapsed? Really? Next up, the best sales year ever - equal to the Great Depression years.

[Purveyor]

3. Sorry I could produce a headline that says 'auto sales worst since the beginning of the great

recession.

I understand how troubling it is to some to see the economy actually improving.

Misery loves company I know but you aren't going to get that from me.

Surely you must be able to find some rw kook sites that will feed your need for 'doom and gloom'...

[fasttense]

4. I'm not objecting to a real economic improvement

But all this rigging of the numbers is really tiresome.

Really, best since 2007 when the Great Recession started and economy collapsed? Come on, there has got to be a more positive spin they can put on it than that? They act as if we can't remember what happened, as if we are too stupid to remember what happened only 6 years ago.

There has got to be a better way of rigging the numbers, I mean letting us know the huge car corporations are again making huge profits off the backs of workers.

[tabasco]

5. Yeah, it's terrible there's been some improvement.

[coldmountain]

2. Chrysler is doing a remarkable job selling 23,000 Grand Cherokees and Durangos last month

Sales of the Ram pickup surged 31 percent to 33,009 and Jeep Grand Cherokee jumped 40 percent to 17,976, Chrysler said in its statement. The Auburn Hills, Michigan-based company reported gains for all five of its brands and extended a streak of U.S. sales increases to 41 months.
Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne is introducing new vehicles, including the Jeep Cherokee sport-utility vehicle and Ram pickups, to wean Chrysler from its past dependence on discounted deliveries to rental-car companies. The company said its retail sales were the highest in the last five years.
“We’re seeing Chrysler shift its sales, relying less on fleet sales,” said Michelle Krebs, an analyst at auto researcher Edmunds.com. “It’s a positive in terms of profitability of the business and consumer satisfaction in terms of resale value of their vehicles.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-04/chrysler-u-s-sales-climb-as-marchionne-weans-from-fleets.html

The coming new baby Cherokee and Ram 1500 diesel will allow Chrysler to beat Honda in retail sales and even challenge Ford in retail sales.