Chrysler May Shine As Car Sales Slow

Car sales will probably slow in August as the economy begins to sputter and people wait to see more of the models which will be launched for the 2011 model year. The trend of rising auto sales has begun to fall apart recently. Edmunds, the car research company, says that annualized U.S. sales will be no better than 11.8 million. That is not enough to fuel sharply improved profits for domestic car makers. Edmunds also points out that comparisons to last August are not meaningful because the sales for that period were distorted by the “cash for clunkers” program. That may be true, but August will be a difficult period for the industry nonetheless. Edmund’s believes that market leaders GM, Honda Motor HMC, and Toyota Motor (NYSE TM) will all suffer sales losses of over 20%–more that the industry average. Ford Motor F will do better–down 7%. That should not come as a surprise. New models from Ford and the lack of stigma from bankruptcy that has hurt GM and Chrysler have helped it gain market share all year. Its share is expected to be 15.5% compared to rival Toyota’s 15.7%. But, Ford’s numbers have risen as Toyota’s have fallen-probably hurt by its large recalls. To read the rest, head over to 247WallSt.com