October Auto Sales Expected to Keep Momentum

Thanks in part to low interest rates, forecasters expect that U.S. auto sales will maintain their recent momentum as October sales will be reported Thursday.

TrueCar.com expects that industry sales will increase 11.5% more than October 2011 to 1.14 million units, while Edmunds.com predicted a rise of 11%.

Despite the last three months of the year historically being “truck season” as far as sales are concerned, midsize sedans are still holding their own. In fact, in September, Autodata reported that three midsize sedans were among the top seven best-selling vehicles.

Both Edmunds and TrueCar expect the industry’s annual selling pace to be between 14.8 million to 14.9 million this month, giving the industry its best October in five years. Analysts at TrueCar, according to a report from Detroit News, project major brands will see an increase in sales from October 2011. TrueCar expects Toyota to rise 22%, while Chrysler will see a 15% gain. Honda is expected to increase 7%, GM 5% and Nissan is expected to come in a little under 5%.