Car sales increased by 13 percent in October, meeting analysts' expectations that the auto industry would perform well in spite of the government shutdown, the Detroit Free Press reports.
General Motors' sales grew by 16 percent from a year earlier; Ford's sales increased 14 percent; and Chrysler saw growth of 11 percent.
"Chevrolet, Cadillac and Buick-GMC all performed well in the month, and the sales tempo really picked up after the government shutdown ended," said Kurt McNeil, vice president of U.S. sales operations. "We are particularly pleased with our truck momentum."
Sales for General Motors' new full-size pickups jumped 62 percent. Within the GM umbrella, Buick was up 31 percent for the month; Cadillac, up 10 percent; Chevrolet, up 15 percent; and GMC, up 16 percent, the Detroit Free Press reports.
Ford's car sales increased 19 percent compared with the same time last year with nearly 200,000 vehicles sold. Representatives credited the gain to new products and the strength of Ford's dealerships.
"October was simply an outstanding retail performance, as consumers continued to choose Ford for great fuel efficiency, styling and value at all levels of the market," said John Felice, head of U.S. marketing, sales and service.
For foreign automakers, Nissan's sales in the U.S. jumped 14.2 percent; Toyota's sales went up nearly 9 percent and Honda increased more than 7 percent. Volkswagen was the only carmaker not to share in the auto industry's success last month as the Germany-based company sales fell 18 percent.
Analysts said sales were slow during the first half of October, but the industry recovered from the shutdown in the last two weeks of the month.
The 13 percent increase actually exceeded some earlier predictions when analysts forecast that the industry would see a 12 percent rise in sales.
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