Chrysler sales jumped 20% in August, beating expectations for just 12.0% growth.
Ford sales unexpectedly climbed by 0.4%, which was notably better than the 1.2% decline expected.
GM, however, saw sales fall 1.2%. Analysts were expecting a modest 0.1% decline.
The world's big automakers are announcing their August U.S. auto sales stats.
Coming into today, analysts forecasted auto sales climbed to an annualized rate of 16.6 million in August, up from 16.4 million in July.
Based on early estimates, August is looking like a whopper.
"With a few exceptions, automakers are reporting higher than expected August sales, pointing to the possibility that the forecasted July 17-million SAAR, which failed to materialize, just may have been a month late coming," said WardsAuto's John Sousanis via Calculated Risk.
"The data have been volatile, but auto sales appear to be on a higher track, supported by easing credit conditions and rising consumer confidence and financial health," said Bank of America Merrill Lynch economists. "Pent-up vehicle demand is also supporting sales, and we expect to see a decent gain in August after a pause in July."
Here's our running tally:
- GM: -1.2% (-0.1% Estimated)
- Ford: +0.4% (-0.4% Est.)
- Chrysler: +20.0% (+12.0% Est.)
- Toyota: +6.3% (-3.3% Est.)
- Honda: +0.4%, (-9.1% Est.)
- Nissan/Infiniti: +11.5% (2.7% Est.)
- BMW: +5.5%
- Mercedes-Benz: +9.4%
- Mitsubishi: +28.5%