Early-July Vehicle Sales Up: Sales of North...

Early-July Vehicle Sales Up: Sales of North American-made cars and trucks rose 2.5% during the July 1-10 period over a year earlier, prolonging a rebound that began in late June, auto makers said. It was the second consecutive increase for the auto makers, which report their sales in 10-day periods. While the back-to-back advances don’t provide enough evidence to signal a trend, they support expectations earlier this year that a sluggish early-1990 sales rate would pick up this summer. Despite the successive increases, the sales rate so far this year continues to lag behind last year’s pace. Car and truck sales since Jan. 1 this year averaged 36,921 units a day compared to a 38,100-a-day average last year, a 3.1% decline. Truck sales, which fueled the early July increase, rose 5.6% over last year. Car sales during the period were 0.6% higher.

VEHICLE SALES

July 1-10 % change 1990 year to year GM* 119,437 +6.7 Ford* 82,183 +2.2 Chrysler* 35,327 -16.3 Honda U.S. 7,517 +13.5 Mitsubishi U.S. 775 +8.2 Nissan U.S.* 3,787 -28.8 Toyota U.S. 4,930 +191.0 Mazda U.S. 1,154 +178.7 Subaru U.S. 304 ** Isuzu U.S.* 79 ** TOTAL 255,493 +2.5

* Includes light truck sales. ** No comparison possible.

There were 7 selling days in the selling period this year and last year.