Sales of new automobiles in the United States rose to their highest level of the year in July, as improved access to credit and leasing allowed motorists to replace their ageing cars and rental operators and fleet owners to upgrade their fleets.
Summer promotions, which usually begin in August but were pulled ahead this year, also had an effect, tempting buyers even though the price of the automobile was no cheaper than in previous months.
According to preliminary estimates, total car and light-truck sales rose to almost 12 million units (expressed as an annual rate) compared with 11.2 million a year earlier and 11.1 million in June. The industry sold just over 1 million cars and light trucks in July, a 6.6 percent increase from June.
Every major automaker except Ford and Daimler said their July sales were better than June. The biggest monthly improvements were posted by Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen, Subaru and Kia.
Sales of GM’s Buick and Cadillac brands more than doubled from a year ago. Buick, which has benefited from new models aimed at broadening the brand’s appeal to younger buyers, posted its best retail performance since September 2007. GM’s fleet sales were also up last month, by 48 per cent from the same period a year ago.
Nissan Motor Co. said July sales soared 28 percent from June on brisk sales of cars and small SUVs. Sales rose 15 percent compared with July 2009.
Among other auto manufacturers, Volkswagen reported sales up 13.4 percent from June and 16 percent from July 2009. Sales of the VW Golf leapt 193 percent from last July. Kia sales rose 11 percent from June and 21 percent from July 2009, helped by new models like the Sorento crossover and the Soul hatchback. Jaguar sales almost doubled, driven mostly by the new XJ sedan which arrived in dealerships in the spring.
Subaru sales rose 11 percent compared with June and 10 percent from July 2009, led by the Outback crossover, while Hyundai sales rose 6 percent from June and 19 percent from July 2009 on strong sales of midsize and smaller sedans such as the Sonata and Elantra.
