October is big month for car sales

Another sign that the economy isn't quite the basket case many folks have assumed it to be. Auto sales rose 9.2 percent last month compared with a a year earlier, and the widely watched annual sales rate totaled 13.26 million vehicles, which is the highest level since the government's misguided cash-for-clunkers program in August, 2009. That's still below the pre-recession years, when sales were in the 16-17 million range, but it's also better than the 9-10 million totals during the recession. And it happened despite lackluster results in October by GM and Ford. How to explain? From the NYT:

Auto sales have been steadily rising since the spring, despite continued high unemployment, in part because many American consumers have put off buying a new car or truck so long that their current vehicle has become too old to drive much longer. The average age of vehicles nationwide has climbed to 10.7 years from 9.8 years in 2007, according to Edmunds.com. October is expected to be the eighth consecutive month in which auto sales topped 1 million. "That's pretty resilient when you consider the onslaught of negative news this summer," Peter Nesvold, an analyst with Jefferies & Company, said last week. "This is not a $500 iPhone. This is a big-ticket, consumer discretionary purchase."