Fueled by better products, low-interest loans, cheap leases and intense Labor Day shopping, Detroit car companies beat analysts estimates and reported numerous sales records for brands and models in August.
"The news is even more positive than the overall numbers imply, as individual car buyers, not fleet sales, are behind the surge," says Edmunds.com senior analyst Michelle Krebs. And sales incentives of all kinds were down 3% from from July to $2,374, Edmunds.com estimates, though were up 3% from last August.
Big trucks and SUVs lead a remarkable rebound that beat analysts estimates.
General Motors -- whose overall sales were up 15% -- said pickup sales rose 15% and large SUV sales rose 29%. GM says the economy seems solid, and that it is, thus, well-positioned as it looks ahead to redesigns of its full-size SUVs and its heavy-duty pickups going into production in the first quarter next year.