Automakers reported their August sales today, with Chrysler Group reporting the largest year-over-year increase at 20 percent. Ford Motor Co. saw a .4 percent increase in sales, while General Motors Co. reported a 1.2 percent decrease.
In Auburn Hills, Chrysler posted U.S. sales of 198,379 units, making it the automaker’s best August since 2002. Sales of the all-new 2015 Chrysler 200 mid-size sedan were up 39 percent last month compared with the previous month of July. Overall, however, the Jeep brand led the way with a 49 percent increase in sales for August.
“Our Jeep brand continued its torrid sales pace recording its best August sales ever and our Ram Truck brand contributed with a massive 39 percent sales increase, both helping Chrysler Group achieve its 53rd-consecutive month of year-over-year sales growth,” says Reid Bigland, Ford’s head of U.S. sales.
In Dearborn, Ford Motor Co.’s sales of 222,174 vehicles showed a 0.4 percent increase from sales during the same period last year.
“Both Fusion and Escape set records in August, each continuing on a strong pace toward 2014 being a best-ever sales year,” says John Felice, Ford’s vice president of U.S. marketing, sales, and service. “It also was another solid month for F-Series, which again topped 60,000 sales and maintained its lead as the best-selling pickup in the U.S.”
With 272,423 deliveries last month, General Motors delivered the most vehicles of the Big Three, although its overall sales were down 1 percent when compared to August 2013. Even so, the automaker saw an 18 percent increase in truck sales, a 10 percent increase in GMC deliveries, and a 30 percent increase in commercial sales compared to 2013.
“We see a strong fall selling season ahead for GM and the industry, which sets the stage for the launches of the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon,” says Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president of sales operations for GM. “Car-buying fundamentals like employment and energy prices are in good shape, consumer confidence has reached a post-recession high.”
