Business
Election 2012: Improving auto sales boost Obama heading into Democratic convention
U.S. President Barack Obama looks at cars at the DC Auto Show at the Convention Center, January 31, 2012 on Washington, DC. PHOTO/Olivier Douliery/UPI
America’s big automakers enjoyed bumper sales in August as US consumers snapped up new cars and gave a boost to the Obama administration bailout of the industry.
GM sold 240,520 new vehicles last month, its highest figure for the year and 10 percent higher than in August last year. Chrysler’s sales rose 14 percent compared to August 2011 to 148,472, its best August sales figure since 2007.
Both companies were bailed out by the Obama administration and forced into bankruptcy. That bailout has become a central plank of Obama’s re-election campaign and has been attacked by his Republican Mitt Romney as “crony capitalism”.
The sales figures come as Obama is expected to champion his auto bailout at this week’s Democratic convention. GM’s results contained another fillip for the president: a new sales record for its controversial Chevy Volt.
