New cars fly off lots
DETROIT — Americans shrugged off fewer discounts and a scary stock market plunge last month, snapping up new automobiles and delivering another month of higher sales for carmakers.
The industry's double-digit jump in sales shows that consumers feel the economy is healthy enough for them to buy a new car or truck. It's easier to get a car loan and gas prices are holding steady. Those factors helped ease any jitters about the 8 percent drop in the stock market last month. May marked the seventh straight month of year-over-year sales increases for the auto industry.
"Clearly we are in a recovery," said Jeff Schuster, executive director of global forecasting for J.D. Power.
The outlook for sales through the summer appears rosy — provided that the recovery continues. The financial markets need to stabilize and employers need to start hiring at a faster clip for sales to keep climbing, said Paul Ballew, a former chief economist at GM who is now at insurance firm Nationwide.
Ford, General Motors and Chrysler saw strong sales gains over the same month last year — a bleak month for the industry as GM headed into bankruptcy and Chrysler was already there. Most Asian and European-based automakers also posted big gains.
The exception was Toyota. The Japanese automaker has been relying on generous discounts the last three months to keep its sales afloat following massive safety recalls that began last fall. Those incentives appeared to lose their luster in May, as sales rose just 7 percent. Industrywide sales rose just over 19 percent in May versus last year, and 12.3 percent compared with April, to 1.1 million vehicles, according to Autodata Corp. At May's selling pace, automakers would sell 11.6 million car and trucks all year.
Detroit's automakers enjoyed brisk gains. Ford sales rose 22 percent, boosted by strong demand for the F-Series pickup and new Ford Mustang. GM sales rose 17 percent, led by a jump in sales of its four remaining brands as well as big orders from fleet customers.
Chrysler enjoyed the biggest boost of the three, with sales surging 33 percent.
