NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors posted a surprise sales gain in August, bucking an industry trend of weak auto sales in the period, and helping domestic brands to recapture a majority of U.S. sales.
GM said its sales of cars and light trucks, such as SUVs and pickups, rose 6 percent in the month to 385,529 vehicles. Car models saw a nearly 8 percent drop in sales, but that was outweighed by the the 16.5 percent jump in light truck models.
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GM said it had the strong sales despite a more than 10 percent drop in less-profitable sales to rental car companies. Sales of its pickup trucks, and its so-called crossover vehicles - more car-like SUVs - helped GM with strong sales to consumers.
"The myth of import superiority is being destroyed," said a statement from Mark LaNeve, GM vice president in charge of North America sales, service and marketing.
Still, GM was not immune to recent woes in the mortgage markets, which has raised consumer concerns about making big ticket purchases. The company also announced it was trimming September and fourth quarter production targets in North America, as it said it still faced "an overall market that remains challenging and competitive."
But shares of Dow component GM (Charts, Fortune 500) were up more than 3 percent in late-day trading, shooting up after the early-afternoon sales report that impressed industry experts.
"It wasn't increased incentives. I think it was true success of some of their vehicles in the marketplace," said Jesse Toprak, executive director of industry analysis for sales tracker Edmunds.com. "They have a number of vehicles timed perfectly, such as their crossovers which are hot right now."
The GM sales results came as rival Ford (Charts, Fortune 500) reported Tuesday that its total U.S. sales fell about 14 percent to 218,332 in the month. That was a bit better than one forecast, but it dropped Ford out of its traditional place as the No. 2 U.S. automaker.
Toyota Motor (Charts) posted a rare 2.8 percent drop in U.S. sales to 233,471, which was weaker than forecasts. But its sales were still enough to put it ahead of Ford Motor for the month. It also saw its year-to-date sales top Ford's light vehicle total, which excludes the U.S. automaker's sales of heavy-duty trucks.
Link: http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/04/news/companies/autosales/index.htm?postversion=2007090415
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