Today's sales data:
- Ford Motor followed up with a 24.3% jump to 147,338 vehicles. Ford unit sales have surged 21% so far this year compared with 2009 to easily outpace the broader industry’s growth rate.
- Car sales for Ford rose 24.7%, sport utilities gained 13.1% and its trucks surged 34%.
- The Dearborn, Mich.-based company also said it plans to build 635,000 vehicles in the first quarter of 2011, up 11% from the prior year.
General Motors (GM) had a solid month although not as flashy as Ford; but core brands were excellent at over 20%.
- General Motors's monthly U.S. car sales rose 11.4%.
- Excluding the discarded brands, GM’s core four — Chevy, Cadillac, Buick and GMC — saw sales rise 21%.