U.S. auto sales soar in 2012 as Toyota leads pack

The auto industry is , in a way, a backbone industry in every country . . so these positive sales reports coming from different places bodes well for the economic situation. ! :)

" It is more difficult to sell a car than to make one" Kiichiro Toyoda Congratulations to a Great Company

Confidence in shale oil and fracked gas must be partly behind this.

Actually, this is all smoke and mirrors. The main reason for the jump in sales last year was due to all the autos destroyed in the flooding caused by Hurricane Sandy. Those cars had to be replaced. Don't expect a similar surge this year even if the economy DOES recover.

http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/toyota-sees-post-sandy-sales-spike-article-1.1209499 -400,000 vehicles replaced because of Hurricane Sandy. 100,000 of those were new cars on dealer lots.

The factors I see in people buying new cars are all the new features built in GPS, wifi, phone, entertainment. MPG 30+ (maybe 40mpg). New models/looks/styling (Toyota lagging the market).

Smoke and Mirrors 40 mpg: https://hyundaimpginfo.com/faq Hyundai is reimbursing consumers for misleading EPA mpg. Ford is looking at having to do this also. http://www.fuelly.com/car/toyota/prius (groups are posting mpg stats -people are starting to take mpg serious and holding EPA/car companies responsible)