Surprise! Auto Sales are Back to This Crazy Level

August car sales beat estimates across the board, hitting levels not seen since the Cash-for-Clunkers program in 2009. Total light vehicle sales grew to an annual pace of 14.5 million units, above a 14.2 million unit forecast by Bloomberg.

Crediting heavy advertising during the Olympic Games, General Motors (NYSE:GM) landed its best retail month of the year with 240,520 sales in the United States. This is up 10 percent from last year. VP of U.S. Sales Operations Kurt McNeil said, “All four of our brands are building momentum behind new products so we’re very well positioned as the economy continues to slowly improve.” McNeil offers cautious confidence from a company that was seeing a lot of red not too long ago.

Don’t Miss: Here’s How Yelp SHINES in the Struggling Social Media Internet Sector. 

Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) sold 193,249 vehicles in the United States, up 13 percent from last year. Ford VP of U.S. Marketing, Sales, and Service Ken Czubay credits Ford’s answer to rising fuel prices. “Customers increasingly value savings at the pump,” said Czubay, “and Ford is answering the call with a full family of vehicles with leading fuel efficiency and the power to choose which vehicle best meets their needs.”

Outside of United States, Toyota (NYSE:TM) sales beat estimates, up 45.6 percent to 188,420 units, and Honda (NYSE:HMC) sales are up an expected 59.5 percent to 131,321 units.

Chrysler sales were also up 14 percent.

These new auto sales are a solid catalyst for the companies’ stocks (in the event Europe and China stay steady). ‘C = Catalyst for a Stockʼs Movement’ is the most critical component of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework. Don’t waste another minute — click here and get our CHEAT SHEET stock picks now.