U.S. auto sales run at 12 million pace, Ford says

U.S. auto sales are running at a 12 million vehicle annual rate in October, said Mark Fields, Ford Motor Co.’s president of the Americas.

The rate would be the highest since the U.S. government’s “cash for clunkers” incentive program pushed sales to a 14.2 million annual pace in August 2009.

“We continue to see good, steady improvement,” Fields said today at an event in Sterling Heights, Michigan. “That would be another sign the consumer is coming back.”

The industrywide annual rate may be “in the 12 million range,” Fields said in response to reporters’ questions.

Ford rose 20 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $14.15 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have gained 42 percent this year.