US automakers see best sales since 2008

MICHIGAN: General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler Group finished 2011 stronger than analysts predicted, as annual US auto sales reached 12.8 million in the best year since 2008, when GM and Chrysler sought US bailouts.

Auto sales increased as consumer confidence reached an eight-month high in December, and carmakers aired holiday ads and continued promotions started in November.

The US automakers rallied in 2011, two years after GM and Chrysler emerged from US-backed bankruptcies.

General Motors also reclaimed the top spot in world vehicle sales from Toyota Motor. “It’s been a phenomenal turnaround for the Big Three,” Michelle Krebs, an analyst with researcher Edmunds. com, said in an interview. “Chrysler and General Motors have the American taxpayer to thank for that, but in the end, it’s been a good investment.”

The 12.8 million figure for 2011 industrywide sales is an estimate by Autodata because not all automakers had reported results, the Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based company said on Wednesday. Sales dropped 18% in 2008 to 13.2 million, the worst since 1992.

In November 2008, the US automaker chief executive officers and UAW President Ron Gettelfinger went to Washington to seek US assistance and were criticised for flying there in corporate jets.