Chrysler's US sales accelerate, Ford stumbles

Chrysler's sales accelerated to its best July performance in five years while rival Ford stumbled and Volkswagen roared ahead, automakers said Wednesday. Chrysler has now posted sales gains for 28 straight months as July sales rose 13 percent to 126,089 vehicles. "July was another solid month for Chrysler Group as we again demonstrated our disciplined and methodical approach to growing sales and profits," said Reid Bigland, head of US sales. The third largest US automaker forecast that July's overall industry sales would come in at a seasonally-adjusted, annualized rate of 14 million once all automakers report. Ford sales fell four percent in July to 173,966 as low-margin fleet sales dropped 16 percent. More profitable retail sales rose two percent in July. Volkswagen, which is aggressively expanding in the United States, posted a 27 percent jump in sales to 37,014 vehicles. It was the German automaker's best July since 1973. "We're pleased to see consumers embracing our strong lineup of award-winning, fuel-efficient, high-quality vehicles and we expect our growth to continue," said Jonathan Browning, chief of Volkswagen Group of America.