US auto sales extend strong gains in January

Source: AFP

US consumers flooded car dealerships in January, pushing sales up 14 percent and extending months of solid growth as the industry recovers from a deep downturn, automakers said Friday.

Toyota led the pack with a 27 percent jump to 157,725 vehicles, as General Motors, Ford, Chrysler and Honda posted double digit growth.

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The industry sales pace came in at a seasonally adjusted, annualized rate of 15.29 million vehicles. That's down modestly from the 15.37 million rate posted in December but up sharply from 13.98 million in January 2012, according to Autodata.

The "biggest driver" of growth this year is going to be demand to replace vehicles after the average age of cars on the road rose to 11 years as millions of people put off purchases in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

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