AUTOS

New-Vehicle Sales Rise in Early October: Auto makers said sales of domestically built cars and trucks rose 8.7% in the first 10 days of October. Most of the gains were posted by the U.S. Big Three--General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp.--whose sales were up a combined 9.1%. Japanese companies that build cars and trucks in North America had a 5.4% sales gain. Overall, car sales were up 9.3% and sales of light trucks--minivans, pickups and sport utility vehicles--rose 7.9%. Cars and trucks sold at an annual rate of more than 12 million, the best since mid-August. GM and Ford posted overall gains of 9.1% and 4.1%, respectively. Chrysler’s combined sales soared 20.5%, according to an estimate by Ward’s Automotive Reports. Chrysler does not release its 10-day sales.