AUTOS

Light Trucks Prop Up Weak Automobile Sales: Sales of domestically built vehicles rose 5.4% in mid-June, with almost all the improvement in light trucks, according to auto makers’ figures. Sales of light trucks, which include pickups, minivans and sport utility vehicles, rose 13.4% in the June 11-20 period. Passenger car sales edged up just 0.1%. The annualized rate for auto sales has been declining since mid-May, but sales often ease in early summer and come back strong in late August and September, near the end of the model year. In mid-June, cars were selling at an annual rate of 6.6 million units, compared to 6.4 million for last year. Trucks sold at an annual rate of 5.1 million units in mid-June, compared to 4.5 million in the equivalent period last year.