AUTOS

Auto Makers’ July Sales Rise Less Than Expected: The industry posted a 0.7% increase in U.S. sales over July last year. Analysts had expected an increase of about 2%. Chrysler Corp.’s strong performance was offset by a disappointing month for General Motors Corp. Analysts caution against reading too much into the month’s results, however, because car makers in July start increasing incentives to clear out inventories of old models and shut down factories to start production of new models. Chrysler again led the industry with an increase of 19% in July. GM posted an unexpected 2.5% decline in U.S. sales in July. Analysts had been expecting GM to post a slight gain. Ford Motor Co., which like the other big auto makers is based in Detroit, is scheduled to post its July sales Monday.