Fleet Sales Up in July

DETROIT - Monthly sales figures for July showed an increase in fleet sales for General Motors and Ford, compared with July 2009.

General Motors reported fleet sales for its four brands (Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC) at 50,048 last month. In July 2009, fleet sales totaled 30,423 vehicles, according to GM. The Chevrolet Silverado pickup sold the most units for the automaker in July with 34,664 units.

Ford's total July sales (which include fleet) were up 2 percent, reflecting higher sales of Ford's trucks to commercial customers, according to the automaker. The Transit Connect experienced a 531.4-percent sales increase with 2,633 units sold versus 417 in July 2009.

For both automakers, trucks made up the majority of sales in July. Ford trucks dominated the automaker's sales at 67,147, compared with cars (58,675), and utilities (40,270). In July 2009, cars made up the majority of total sales at 62,176 units for Ford. Similarly, GM truck sales far surpassed the automaker's car sales for the month of July, reporting more than three times the amount of trucks sold (71,584) versus 21,729 cars.

Chrysler Group LLC reported U.S. total sales of 93,313, a 5-percent increase compared with sales in July 2009 (88,900 units). Fleet sales were not mentioned in the automaker's monthly sales report.