Trucks lift US auto sales to best month since 2007
Improving housing market is helping demand for pickups, lifting the overall market
Sales of brawny pickup trucks fueled strong demand for new vehicles in the United States in June, driving the industry toward its strongest month since late 2007, before the financial crisis that drove General Motors and Chrysler into bankruptcy.
GM and Ford posted stronger-than-expected sales on Tuesday, and Chrysler’s sales met analysts’ expectations as the improving US housing market led to surging demand for full-size pickups at all the US automakers. Toyota also reported surprisingly strong June US sales.
“American families are better off than they were at the beginning of the year,” Kurt McNeil, head of US sales for GM, said on a conference call. “They also believe that the economic expansion is going to continue, so they’re buying more homes, and more cars and trucks.”
He said stable petrol prices, an improving employment picture and a rising stock market are boosting consumer confidence. In other good news, US home prices racked up their biggest annual gain in more than seven years in May, data analysis firm CoreLogic said on Tuesday.
The auto industry has held up better than the broader economy partly because of consumers’ need to replace ageing vehicles.
Overall US auto industry sales in June are on track to increase about 10 per cent, and according to GM will hit their strongest annual sales pace for any month since November 2007.
