US auto sales hit a 3-year high

DETROIT— Big pickups carried U.S. auto sales to their highest level in three years.

Demand for full-size pickups jumped 16 percent in August, helping to make it the strongest sales month since August 2009. Overall auto sales increased 20 percent from a year earlier to nearly 1.3 million, according to Autodata Corp.

The rising demand shows that businesses need to replace aging trucks and feel more confident about the recovery in U.S. housing — an industry where pickups are essential for hauling equipment.

“Businesses don’t usually go buy a fleet of trucks unless they have good reason to believe that business will be ramping up,” said Jesse Toprak, vice president of market intelligence for the TrueCar.com auto pricing service.

Ford, GM and Chrysler, the biggest makers of full-size trucks, notched doubledigit gains in overall sales last month.

In pickups, Ford’s F-Series, the top-selling vehicle in America, saw a 19 percent sales increase, as did Chrysler’s Ram pickup. Sales of General Motors’ Chevy Silverado rose 4 percent, while the GMC Sierra was up 9 percent. Toyota’s Tundra posted a huge increase of 68 percent.

The rising demand helped push total U.S. auto sales last month to an annual rate of 14.5 million, the best monthly sales pace since the government’s “Cash for Clunkers” rebate program in August 2009.

Pent-up demand is one reason for last month’s increase. The average vehicle on U.S. roads is nearing11years old, and some are simply wearing out.

Gas mileage also is playing a role in the pickup increase. Newer models are lighter than older ones and can be equipped with small but powerful V-6 engines.