Auto Industry, Auto Sales | featured news

General Motors' U.S. sales fell 1.2 percent in May as it offered fewer deals to customers.

Analysts project that sales will increase across the industry, despite worries about rising gasoline prices and production stoppages in Japan.

General Motors' sales in China increased 28.8% in 2010 while U.S. sales rose just 6.3%. GM is one of the best-positioned automakers in emerging markets, even better than Toyota, says one expert. General Motors Co. sold more vehicles in China than it did in the U.S.

General Motors Co posted a 7.5 percent rise in December U.S. auto sales and said it expects the industry to report sales at a 13 million-vehicle annualized rate for last month -- far higher than many forecasts and what would be the highest rate of 2010.

October was a relatively good month for the auto industry, which is trying to build momentum in what has been a slow recovery.

The month of October is just about a wrap, and it’s shaping up to be a good one for the auto industry.

A strong customer demand for the vast range of Toyota has helped the company to cross the 200000 plus sales mark in the month of September. The company has been a leader in 7 categories of its vehicles and has not fell below the third place in whichever category it had participated.

While sales were up, overall demand continued to be lower than automakers had expected it to be at this point in the economic recovery.

Retail sales are expected to show an increase in August despite weakness in auto sales. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect retail sales will increase 0.3 percent in August following a 0.4 percent rise in July.

Spending fell 1.2%, the biggest dip in eight months. Auto sales were down 1.7%. Retail sales plunged in May by the largest amount in eight months as consumers slashed spending on everything from cars to clothing.