The auto industry is expected to post double-digit U.S. sales gains in August, led by the resurgence of Japanese automakers and an upturn in fuel-efficient vehicle sales, according to a trio of automotive market trackers.
Total light-vehicle sales are expected to rise between 16 percent and 19 percent in August, and surpass 1.25 million when automakers release sales figures Tuesday, according to data from TrueCar.com, J.D. Power & Associates and Kelley Blue Book.
Those figures are enough to boost the annual sales rate to about 14.2 million, according to TrueCar.com, up from the 14.1 million sales rate last month.
"The strength in August light-vehicle sales takes some of the pressure off expectations for the balance of the year, but a high level of risk lingers," Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting at LMC Automotive, said in a statement. "We expect the current seesawing in auto sales to continue for the foreseeable future, but the overall picture in 2012 remains positive."
The top eight auto manufacturers are expected to post sales gains in August, including Chrysler Group LLC and Ford Motor Co., which TrueCar.com predicts will post sales gains of 9.6 and 9.5 percent, respectively. General Motors Co. is anticipated to have a more modest rise of 3.9 percent.