July rebound month for U.S. auto sales

U.S. auto companies reported sales rebounded in July, as Chrysler led the group with a 20 percent jump compared with July 2010, the company said. Ford Motor Co.'s sales rose 8.9 percent. For General Motors Co., sales were up 7.6 percent compared with a year ago, The Detroit News reported Tuesday. "In a market that remains tougher than a cheap steak, we were able to produce our highest retail sales in more than three years," Chrysler's head of U.S. sales and the Dodge brand, Reid Bigland, said. Car sales were up 28 percent for Chrysler, while truck sales were up 18 percent from July 2010. For the Jeep Compass, sales soared 240 percent compared with the same month a year earlier. Ken Czubay, Ford's vice president in charge of U.S. marketing, sales and service, said the "Fiesta, Focus and Fusion put Ford back in the car business." Sales also grew 66 percent for the Ford Escape and 108 percent for the Ford Explorer. The Chevrolet Cruze has sold 20,000 or more units for four months running for GM. In June, the vehicle was the best-selling car in the country. Sales of foreign brands had a far tougher month, however. Honda Motor Co. reported sales were off 28.4 percent with slightly more than 80,000 units rolling off the lots for the month. At Toyota Motor Corp., sales were down 22.7 percent in July to 130,802 vehicles. Volkswagen of America posted gains with sales 21.7 percent higher than July 2010. "For the seventh month in a row, we significantly outpaced the industry performance," said Johnathan Browning, Volkswagen's U.S. chief executive officer.