U.S. Car Sales Surge to an 18.2 Million Annualized Rate

Sales of passenger vehicles in the U.S. jumped 16% to 1.44 million in September, representing a staggering adjusted annualized rate of 18.2 million units, Autodata Corp. reports. The pace was second only to the record 20.6 million rate achieved in July 2005.

Traditional domestic producers all posted double-digit increases. General Motors climbed 13% to 251,300 units, Ford zoomed 23% to 221,300 and Chrysler gained 14% to 189,600.

Market growth was heavily driven by demand for trucks, crossovers and SUVs, a group that captured more than 53% of the market last month. Truck sales jumped 24% to 823,400 units in September. Demand for passenger cars climbed 7% to 619,100 vehicles.

September sales of Asian brands rose 17% to 650,000 vehicles, led by Toyota (+16% to 194,400 units), Honda (+13% to 133,800) and Nissan (+18% to 121,800). Hyundai and its Kia units advanced 14% to 64,000 units and 23% to 49,800 units, respectively. Subaru sales climbed 28% to 53,100 units, and Mazda sales rose 7% to 25,600.

European brands posted an 8% increase to 128,100 units last month. Mercedes-Benz (+6% to 31,300 units) extended its lead over BMW (+4% to 26,600). Both brands outsold Volkswagen, whose deliveries increased 1% to 26,100 units.