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Business Title: J.D. Power Sees U.S. February Auto Sales Up 17 Pct; Auto Sales Per Dealer May Reach Pre-Recession Levels DETROIT, Feb 17 (Reuters) - J.D. Power and Associates forecast February U.S. light vehicle sales will rise 17 percent from a year earlier. U.S. retail sales are seen up 28 percent at 10.3 million vehicles, the research and consulting firm said on Thursday. J.D. Power said retail selling rates signal the continuing U.S. auto industry recovery from 2008 and 2009, when much of the industry was restructured, including bankruptcies at General Motors Co (GM.N) and Chrysler. Retail selling rates are a better indicator of consumer demand than overall selling rates, which include bulk fleet sales, it said. The firm did not change its forecast for 2011 sales of 13 million light vehicles, up 12 percent from 2010. It sees retail sales up 15 percent to 10.5 million vehicles. "The stronger retail environment, guided by the new business model that the industry is operating under, is an encouraging signal for 2011," said John Humphrey, J.D. Power senior vice president of automotive operations. "While fleet sales are not expected to grow at the same rate as retail, a rebound in more profitable commercial and governmental fleet volume will make up a larger proportion of the fleet mix in 2011." Fleet sales to daily rental agencies are not seen as profitable. North American production by automakers is forecast by J.D. Power to rise 8 percent in 2011 to 12.8 million vehicles, up from its previous forecast of 12.6 million. J.D. Power said first-quarter North American production will rise 13 percent from a year earlier to 3.2 million vehicles. Output in the 2011 second half production will rise only 4 percent, it said. U.S. February sales are seen at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 12.4 million vehicles, based on results from the first 11 days of the month gathered by J.D. Power. Total sales for February were forecast at 913,000 vehicles, and retail sales at 727,500. (Reporting by Bernie Woodall; editing by John Wallace) Craig Trudell / Bloomberg News U.S. auto sales per dealership may return to levels reached before the recession after General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC closed locations. Sales per dealer may rise to about 745 new vehicles this year, according to auto-dealership consultant Urban Science. The National Automotive Dealership Association forecasts total U.S. sales in 2011 may rise 11 percent to 12.9 million, which would be about 23 percent less than the annual average from 2000 to 2007. The number of U.S. auto dealerships fell 4.4 percent last year to 17,659, Detroit-based Urban Science said today in its annual Automotive Franchise Activity Report. The rate of closings slowed from 8 percent in 2009, according to the report. "The domestic consolidations worked and have allowed the remaining dealers an opportunity see their numbers rebound faster," John Frith, vice president of Urban Science, said in a statement. GM, the largest U.S. automaker, and Chrysler eliminated more than 2,200 dealers as part of their bankruptcy reorganizations in 2009. The shutting of about one-fourth of the companies' dealerships drew criticism by the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which said in a report last year that the "dramatic and accelerated" closings may not have been necessary and added to unemployment. Detroit-based GM reorganized with $49.5 billion in government aid, while Auburn Hills-based Chrysler got $12.5 billion in assistance for its reorganization that year from the government's TARP program, which also aided banks. More dealerships may close in 2011 after Ford Motor Co. discontinued its Mercury brand at the end of last year, according to Urban Science. Ford plans to reduce the number of dealerships selling its Lincoln luxury brand in the biggest U.S. metropolitan markets by 25 percent to 325 outlets, the Dearborn-based automaker told dealers and reporters this month at the NADA convention in San Francisco. The industry averaged a 16.8 million annual rate from 2000 to 2007, according to Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based researcher Autodata Corp.
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#1. To: Brian S (#0)
Any day now my new Beemer is going to add to those numbers. /sarc
When Ford stock trips $20 I'm cashing out and buying a new truck with cash money. The hard part is deciding whether to buy the Ford that rewarded me so well with my investment or stick with family tradition and get the GMC. Decisions, decisions...
Sugar Daddy Obama will disown you if you don't buy a Government Motors from him.
No but my dad's ashes might come flying off the shelve and whack me upside the head...
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