Gm, Auto Sales | featured news

General Motors Co and Chrysler Group reported September U.S. auto sales gains of at least 20 percent, a sign that consumers have returned as vehicle inventories have risen after being crimped by the March earthquake in Japan.

General Motors' U.S. sales fell 1.2 percent in May as it offered fewer deals to customers.

Analysts project that sales will increase across the industry, despite worries about rising gasoline prices and production stoppages in Japan.

General Motors' sales in China increased 28.8% in 2010 while U.S. sales rose just 6.3%. GM is one of the best-positioned automakers in emerging markets, even better than Toyota, says one expert. General Motors Co. sold more vehicles in China than it did in the U.S.

General Motors Co posted a 7.5 percent rise in December U.S. auto sales and said it expects the industry to report sales at a 13 million-vehicle annualized rate for last month -- far higher than many forecasts and what would be the highest rate of 2010.

October was a relatively good month for the auto industry, which is trying to build momentum in what has been a slow recovery.

Ford and GM report an increase of 43% for the month. And Honda is up 22% compared with a year ago as automakers keep pace with incentives offered by troubled Toyota.

US auto sales rose in January but were tempered by Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), which suffered a sales slide late in the month from a recall that led the auto maker to halt sales of more than half its vehicles.