U.S. auto sales up first time since recession
DETROIT — Auto sales rose in the United States last year for the first time since the recession. They’re still far from what they were just a few years ago — but that’s just fine with the downsized auto industry, which can post profits even if they sell millions fewer cars and trucks.
For the year, car and truck sales came in at 11.6 million, up 11 percent from last year, automakers reported Tuesday. For December alone, sales were 1.14 million, also up 11 percent from a year earlier.
While the figures have some in the industry talking about a return to the glory days, it’s a fragile idea. Rising gas prices or more economic trouble could shake the confidence of buyers.
But for now, executives are optimistic about this year. General Motors, Ford and Toyota all predict sale will come in at 12.5 million to 13 million for 2011. It will take years, analysts expect, to get back to the peak sales of the middle of last decade — more like 17 million.
Toyota was the only company that sold fewer cars and trucks than in 2009. The company was stung by sudden-acceleration recalls in early 2010 and never fully recovered.
Overall, buyers are easing back into the market, replacing aging vehicles. The average vehicle on U.S. roads is now 10.2 years old — the highest since 1997 and a full year older than in 2007, before the recession, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association.
Auto sales peaked in 2005 at 17.4 million and bottomed out at 10.6 million in 2009. The peak was fueled, in part, by big incentives — like the employee-discounts-for-everyone schemes that were popular in the summer of 2005. But those deals may be a thing of the past.
After moving away from large trucks and SUVs when gas prices spiked in the summer of 2008, Americans turned back to bigger wheels in 2010, and SUV and truck sales rose again. Car sales made up 49.8 percent of sales in 2010, while truck sales made up 50.2 percent.
