8-26-2012
The Detroit Free Press reports there's a lot of optimism around Detroit for the second half of 2012. It appeared as if auto sales were tapering off but the paper has several optimistic quotes about the auto market. J.D. Power and Associates Senior V.P. John Humphrey said, "August continues this summer's trend of healthy growth in retail sales as dealers work to sell down inventory in time to make room for 2013 models."
Ron MacEachern is a GM for several dealerships. He's quoted as saying, "The market growth is very, very steady." The paper says U.S. consumers are on track to buy 1.3 million vehicles in August, or 16 percent more than a year ago. That would translate to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 14.5 million -- the strongest pace for any month this year. Automotive website Edmunds.com also is projecting a selling rate of 14.5 million.
