BuickWhile April and May sales offered a continuing comeback in vehicle sales, highlighting what looked like a recovering market, June put a brake on the accelerating progress.
Even as Ford and GM paraded increased year-over-year sales of individual brands in their stables, the Detroit 3 reported June sales down as much as 13% from May; Toyota noted a May to June drop of 14%.
Still, June 2010 sales outpaced June 2009: Chrysler offered a 35% growth; Audi 14%; Ford and Kia 13%; GM 12%; Nissan 11%; and Toyota 7%.
But the drop June drop from May follows in line with a drop in overall consumer spending on large-ticket items fueled by worries of unemployment — the federal government reported that the U.S. economy shed jobs in June rather than what had been a slow but steady adding of jobs throughout the year.