Propped up mainly by the Cash for Clunkers Program, US auto sales are seen to rise in August for the first time in 22 months. George Pipas, Ford Motor Co.’s top sales analyst says that it’s a sure thing. He predicts that purchases by individual customers will rise by at least 10%. He declined to give a forecast on how fleet purchases will figure
. The US auto industry last recorded a gain in October 2007, when sales rose 1.2% from the previous year’s totals. The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate for that month was 16 million. Sales plunged since then, seemingly bottoming out during the first six months of the year, with seasonally adjusted annual sales rates below 10 million. July sales, which were affected by the surge due to the government incentive, recorded 11.1 million vehicles. Pipas declined to predict a SAAR for August but said it will be the highest since at least the second quarter of 2008, when the monthly figures ranged from 13.1 million to 15.1 million.
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