Chrysler, GM, Ford Report Strong Auto Sales

Chrysler

, General Motors

and Ford

reported sales figures for August that exceeded expectations. Much of that success can be put down to the introduction of new vehicles like the Dodge Dart, and revisions to staples like the Ford Escape and Chevrolet Malibu. According to

, Chrysler is doing particularly well with deliveries increasing 14 percent in August. Ford deliveries rose 13 percent, while GM went up 10 percent. In a

, Chrysler said that the company saw its best August sales since 2007. "Our Iron Man streak continued last month as we posted our 29th-consecutive month of year-over-year sales growth,” said Reid Bigland, President and CEO – Dodge Brand and Head of U.S. Sales. “Our hard work over the past few years is starting to pay some dividends in our sales growth, quality awards and profitability. Not to mention, an incredibly resilient U.S. new vehicle sales industry doesn't hurt either.” This, despite the fact that GM and Ford

in August, with GM recalling about 258,000 SUVs. Short circuits in power-window and door-lock switches had caused at least 28 vehicle fires. In addition, GM was left with an

, with dealers having a 122-day supply of Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups in June. To put the number into perspective, Chrysler was at 93 percent while Ford was at 79 percent. The good news for consumers is that GM is likely to be offering great deals on pickups for the remainder of the year. The bad news for autoworkers is that two GM plants in Indiana and Michigan have effectively ceased production for the time being. It was also interesting to hear this month that GM had decided to step out of the political arena by

. On Tuesday afternoon, General Motors traded at about $21.20, down roughly 0.8 percent. Ford traded at about $9.40, up roughly 0.9 percent.