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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: i-node who wrote (653567)	5/2/2012 7:57:36 PM
From: FJB	1 Recommendation Respond to of 1583503

Wed. May 2, 2012 (Reuters) - U.S. auto sales rose 2.3 percent in April, helped by strong gains at Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) and Chrysler Group LLC, as American shoppers looked to replace their aging cars and trucks and the broader U.S. economy showed signs of strength.The annual sales rate in April was 14.4 million, in line with the pace projected by economists polled by Thomson Reuters. This was in line with the March rate, but down slightly from the 14.6 million pace reported in the first quarter. Auto sales are one of the earliest snapshots of American consumer demand and the metric has proven to be a bright spot in the U.S. economy. Despite signs that the overall U.S. economy might lose steam, automakers said they remained optimistic. "There continue to be a lot of mixed signals out there," said Toyota brand sales chief Bob Carter. But he said consumers' pent-up demand for new vehicles coupled with Toyota's upcoming models would drive sales this year. "We're watching consumer confidence and consumer sentiment very closely," he said." As both of those indices improve, we're starting to see more showroom traffic." Chrysler and Toyota were the biggest gainers in U.S. market share in April, while General Motors Co (GM.N), Ford Motor Co (F.N), Honda Motor Co Ltd (7267.T) and Nissan Motor Co Ltd (7201.T) all lost share in the month, according to Autodata Corp. Toyota sales shot up 11.6 percent, spurred by passenger cars led by the Camry sedan and the Prius hybrid. Chrysler sales leapt 20 percent on the strength of models like the 300 sedan. Both GM and Ford reported smaller-than-expected declines during the month. GM reported an 8.2 percent drop while Ford's sales fell 5 percent. Cont... reuters.com