The U.S. auto industry shrugged off a weakening labor market and waning consumer confidence in June, surpassing analysts’ estimates and completing the best first half for vehicle sales since 2008.
General Motors Co. (GM), Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC reported better than predicted gains from the year-earlier period in which they dominated the U.S. market because of vehicle shortages at Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. caused by Japan’s tsunami. The 22 percent June increase for the industry gives reason for optimism after analysts under- estimated demand following lower than projected sales in May.
Light-vehicle sales accelerated to 14.1 million seasonally adjusted annualized rate, according to researcher Autodata Corp., beating the 13.8 million light-vehicle average of 15 analyst estimates surveyed by Bloomberg. The world’s second- largest auto market remains on pace for the best annual sales total since 2007.