After a week in which General Motors declared bankruptcy, there was some surprising news on the automotive front: American sales of new cars actually rose in the month of May. Cars and light trucks moved out of the showroom at an annual pace of 9.9 million sold last month, up from a 9.3 million rate in April. They had bottomed out at a 9.1 million pace in February, the lowest level since December 1981.
The woes among American automakers might make those figures seem unlikely, but what seems to be happening is that people are flooding to their local Chrysler, GM and Ford dealers hoping to get a really sweet deal on a new car. They know Chrysler closed hundreds of dealerships and will need to liquidate thousands of cars, and that GM is desperate to get its sales moving again. That means bargains are to be had.
So it's not all good news; the automakers themselves are unlikely to reap a whole lot of long-term benefits from the bargain hunters. But on the other hand, anything that can help kickstart this economy is a good thing.
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