WASHINGTON (MNI) – The following is an initial summary of the July
U.S. sales performance of select auto manufacturers announced Tuesday:

* General Motors dealers in the United States reported 214,915
total sales in July, an 8% gain compared to July 2010. Retail sales for
GM’s brands rose 6% for the month compared to a year ago, and were 1%
higher than June. GM’s 2011 U.S. industry forecast, originally announced
in January, remains unchanged at 13 million to 13.5 million units, but
the company expects total industry sales to end the year in the low end
of this range. Total sales of GM passenger cars increased 8% during
July, compared to a year ago. Total sales of GM’s full-size pickups
declined 3% versus a year ago. Month-end dealer inventory in the United
States stood at about 538,000 units, down about 67,000 units compared to
June and about 115,000 units higher than July 2010.

* Ford’s July sales totaled 180,865, up 9% versus a year ago –
driven by 13% higher Ford brand sales and 40% higher sales for Lincoln.
Year-to-date, Ford brand car sales totaled 430,633, up 24%. Ford truck
sales were slightly higher than a year ago in July and higher than a
year ago on a year-to-date basis. July truck sales totaled 67,473, up
1%. Year-to-date, Ford truck sales totaled 442,262, up 9%.

* Chrysler Group LLC Tuesday reported U.S. sales of 112,026, a
20% increase compared with sales in July 2010 (93,313 units), and the
best July sales since 2007. Chrysler Group truck sales (84,266 units)
improved 18% compared with July 2010 (71,584 units). Chrysler Group car
sales (27,760 units) were up 28% versus July 2010 (21,729 units).
Chrysler Group finished the month with a 72-day supply of inventory
(308,880 units).

* The BMW Group in the U.S. (BMW and MINI combined) reported
July sales of 26,120 vehicles, an increase of 11.7% from the 23,390
vehicles sold in the same month a year ago. Year-to-date, BMW Group
sales are up 17% to 169,641 in the first seven months of 2011 compared
to 144,975 in the same period in 2010.

* Volkswagen of America, Inc. Tuesday reported 29,066 units sold
in July 2011, a 21.7% increase over prior year sales. Year-to-date sales
are up 22.2%.

* Kia Motors Tuesday announced July U.S. sales were up an 28.5%
over the same period last year.

* Subaru of America, Inc. Tuesday announced July 2011 sales of
21,730 and 153,779 year-to-date.

** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **

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