Ford, Honda and Toyota report August sales surge

Ford sales, boosted by the 'cash for clunkers' program, are up 17% from August 2008, while Honda sales rise 14.2% and Toyota is up 10.5%. GM falls 20%, but company still calls it an 'excellent' month.

Ford and its Japanese rivals Toyota and Honda all reported sharply higher sales in August as the wildly popular "cash for clunkers" promotion brought customers back into showrooms. But the program was less generous to other U.S. automakers.

Ford Motor Co. reported a 17% increase in August sales compared to a year ago, the second straight month the automaker has reported higher sales.

"Back-to-back sales increases has a nice ring to it," Ford sales analyst George Pipas said on a conference call today. Pipas also said he expects the industry overall to report higher sales for August -- the first year-over-year monthly sales increase since October 2007.

Honda Motor Co., riding the strong sales of its Civic and Fit compacts, said it sold 161,439 vehicles in August, up 9.9% compared with a year ago. The automaker said the clunkers program pushed buyers to fuel-efficient vehicles, which helped Honda.

"Honda's August sales speak to the attributes customers were looking for under [the program] and will continue to look for as the economic recovery takes shape," said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co. "The challenge will be maintaining this momentum going forward."

Toyota Motor Corp., which captured the largest percentage of clunkers sales, said it sold 225,088 vehicles in August, up 6.4% over a year ago. It was the Japanese automaker's best sales month since May 2008.

But Chrysler Group's August sales fell 15.4% compared with a year earlier to 93,222 vehicles despite the cash for clunkers program. Chrysler said low inventories of several popular Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge models contributed to the shortfall.

General Motors Co. sold 245,066 cars and light trucks last month, down 19.9% from a year ago.