NEW YORK: Major automakers on Friday reported another month of strong US sales in July, with many of the biggest gains coming in trucks and sport utility vehicles.
Total light vehicle sales were 1.44 million, up 9.1 percent from a year ago, according to industry specialist AutoData.
Although the sales were strong, the total came in below the 1.46 million projected by auto industry specialists Edmunds.com.
General Motors sold 256,160 vehicles in July, an increase of nine percent from the year-ago level. Large non-luxury SUVs and crossover vehicles both scored huge increases.
"GM and the US economy left July carrying good momentum," said Kurt McNeil, US vice president of sales operations.
"The economy has bounced back strongly from the harsh winter, consumer confidence has reached a post-recession high, energy prices remain moderate and job growth continues."
The July tally underscored that shoppers continue to favour GM's products, even as the biggest US automaker faces continued criticism over its handling of an ignition-switch defect linked to 13 deaths.
Ford Motor scored a 10 percent rise in July auto sales to 212,236. The strongest gains came in the SUV category, where sales rose 17.1 percent from last year's level. Sales of Ford trucks meanwhile increased 6.6 percent.
"July proved to be a very good month for Ford and Lincoln with positive gains across the board in all the major segments," said John Felice, a Ford vice president in US sales.
Chrysler, a unit of Italian company Fiat Chrysler, said July sales rose 20 percent to 167,667, with Jeep and Ram truck brands garnering the largest percentage sales gains.
Toyota sales totaled 215,802, up 7.3 percent from a year ago. Sales of the company's Lexus luxury SUVs rose 23 percent, but smaller cars like the Camry and Corolla also scored double-digit gains.
Jessica Caldwell, an analyst at Edmunds.com, said sales of trucks and SUVs are expected to outnumber cars for the 11th straight month, the "longest such streak since the heyday of SUVs" in the mid-2000s.
The trend underscores in part the rise of the compact crossover SUV, which has "better fuel economy than many people might expect out of an SUV," she said.
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