Ford announced that the company missed expectations and that sales plunged due to chip shortages. F-150 sales were part of the decline.

This is affecting the entire industry and spurring a rush to buy used cars.

Times are good for Chrysler, which provides some good economic news for the administration on a day that the lame job numbers came out.

Chrysler sales jumped 30% in May, which extend an incredible steak of 12 consecutive months where the company has exceed 20& year-over-year sales growth. This is excellent news for the company and for anyone who defended the auto bailout.

And things might get even better for Chrysler soon:

And it comes as Chrysler prepares later this month to roll out its key new car introduction for the year, the Fiat-based Dodge Dart, above, that it aims to get the company back into the small-car game. Dart is an enlarged, Americanized version of Fiat’s sporty Alfa Romeo Giulietta.

All the company’s brands — Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram and Fiat — posted year-over-year gains in May. Fiat was up most, 128% to a record month as the tiny 500 finally gains some traction.

But the Chrysler brand was heroic — up 81%, as the 200 sedan zoomed 87% and the big 300 rocketed 140% for its best May since 2007.

If the Dart is a hit, then Sergio Marchionne and his team can really celebrate.

Check out the entire article for news on the other automakers.

Things change fast in the U.S. Auto Industry as it looks like it’s now Chrysler, Hyundai-Kia , Toyota and VW’s time to shine in 2012. GM and Ford are down in share for the year but they both have some strong product coming out that could put them back in the black when it comes to market share.

From the Detroit News:

General Motors Co.’s sales in the U.S. were down 8.2 percent for April as Ford Motor Co. reported last month’s U.S. sales were down, too, by 5 percent. Meanwhile, Chrysler Group LLC said Tuesday its sales were up 20 percent last month, making for its best April in four years.

GM sales were down to 213,387 primarily due to a 25 percent drop in fleet sales that the automaker said was because of the timing of rental customer deliveries. The company said its retail sales were essentially flat. GM also pointed out that April 2012 had three fewer selling days than the same month a year ago — only the second time that has occurred in the past 10 years.

GMC posted a sales increase of 4.5 percent during the month, driven by a 20 percent increase in sales of the GMC Sierra pickup and a 9 percent jump for the GMC Terrain crossover. Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac all saw total sales fall during April compared to the same month a year earlier.

Read the full article.

The New Year is upon us and all signs point to a stronger 2012 in regards to auto sales. Forecasts call for growth on a global scale with luxury vehicles leading the way and that means profits for GM, Nissan and the rest of the global players. Keep an eye out for Bullz-Eye.com’s 20 Cars to watch out for in 2012 and let’s hope the sales momentum from last year takes us to a better place in 2012!

From the Detroit Free Press:

Global auto sales will grow 6.7% this year with growth projected in all major markets but Europe, according to automotive consulting firm R.L. Polk.

Worldwide new vehicles sales are forecast to reach 77.7 million this year, with China accounting for the largest portion of the increase. New vehicle sales are expected to reach 17.9 million this year in the world’s largest auto market, up 16% from 2011, according to Polk.

The U.S. market is poised to expand to 13.7 million this year, up from about 12.8 million in 2011, with the luxury market as the fastest growing segment, increasing by more than 14%.

That bodes well for Ford and General Motors, which are working to restore their Lincoln and Cadillac brands to former glory. Both will unveil important new cars next week at the North American International Auto Show in at Cobo Center.

Read the full article.

Apparently, if people were not rioting over two dollar waffle irons at Wal-Mart, they were buying cars on our nation’s most treasured holiday, Black Friday. The result of the strong sales last weekend caused November of this year to post sales at a 13.4% seasonally adjusted rate, 2% higher than the same period in 2010. In fact, this is the highest seasonal rate increase since “Cash for Clunkers” was operating in 2009. There are more factors contributing to November’s sales success than just Black Friday though.

Read the rest of this entry »