According to Inside Line, of Edmunds.com, U.S. auto sales are expected to reach for nearly 1.4 million units by the end of May, a performance figure that is up by more than 30 percent of May last year. Leading the surge are automakers Toyota, Honda, and Chrysler.
Since the earthquake that hit Japan last year, the two Japanese automakers displayed an incredibly strong ability to recovery, while Chrysler also boasted its best sales month since March 2008.
According to Edmunds.com senior analyst Jessica Caldwell, "With continued pent-up demand and consumers gaining more and more access to credit, there's every reason to believe that sales can continue at this rate through the rest of the year." If it does, the industry is projected to sell as many as 14.4 million cars this year.
In terms of our domestic automakers, Edmunds sees improvements for the 'Big 3' across the board, with a 42 percent rise in May sales for Chrysler, while General Motors and Ford Motor Company each receive respectable increases of 11 percent and 16 percent, respectively, as well.
However, the recovery is particularly strong in Japan, as Honda sales have climbed nearly 50 percent compared to last May while Toyota sales have rocketed upward by nearly 90 percent in the same period. Edmunds said that Toyota's performance, "underscores the progress that (the automaker) has made since the March 2011 earthquake in Japan that temporarily damaged its production capabilities and severely weakened its US market position last year."
In fact, earlier news revealed that record Prius sales have bumped the hybrid vehicle to become the third best selling car in the world. What's more, only last week, Toyota announced that its total Prius sales number also exceeded 4 million units.
