Car Sales Surging

US Auto industry surged 14% to a total of 1.3 million vehicles last month — the strongest sales since 2006 — driven by continued strength in pick-up trucks, small fuel efficient cars and popular mid-sized sedans. General Motors rode to a 16.3 percent increase with 45.2 percent jump in Chevy Silverado trucks, a 70.2 percent increase in its Chevrolet Cruze and the 38 percent bump for the new award winning Impala full sized sedan.

Toyota moved up 17.1 percent on a 40 percent increase in Prius hybrid sales and continued strength from its latest Camry and Avalon sedans. Ford sales increased 11.5 percent powered by the F-150 pick-up truck, Escape small SUV and its aggressive Fiesta, Focus and C-Max small car line-up.

Locally headquartered Subaru scored a 42.9 percent July increase with North American sales projected to jump to 420,000 vehicles in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2014. Though only about 20 to 30 percent of the volume of Japanese giants Toyota and Honda in America — more than half of Subaru’s global sales are in the US and the strong performance here is carrying its parent Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd to record profits!