Auto sales move forward

DETROIT (AP) - After hitting a 30-year low in 2009, U.S. auto sales are poised for a second straight year of growth in 2012 - the result of easier credit, low interest rates and pent-up demand for cars and trucks created by the Great Recession.

The sales forecast bodes well for the industry's continued recovery and for the broader American economy.

Just two years ago, Detroit automakers were in peril. Car sales plunged as unemployment soared, and loans became harder to get. Chrysler and General Motors filed for bankruptcy protection. Ford avoided bankruptcy only by borrowing billions.

Now credit is more available, interest rates are low and Americans need to replace old cars and trucks they kept during and after the downturn. Millions of drivers in their teens and 20s are expected to buy vehicles, too. That could mean more jobs, more factory shifts and overall growth.

Vince Powell, a retiree from Winfield, Pa., recently traded in his wife's 7-year-old Chrysler 300 luxury sedan for a 2011 model. The old car had 145,000 miles on it, but it was the deal he got that most attracted him: a low interest rate (2.7 percent per year), a six-year loan term and a big discount off the $31,900 sticker price.

In their effort to survive, all three automakers downsized and positioned themselves to turn profits - even if sales remained depressed. Now that sales are rising, the outlook has brightened considerably.

Automakers report U.S. sales for 2011 on Wednesday. When final figures are calculated, sales of new cars and trucks are expected to reach 12.7 million, up from 11.5 million in 2010 and 10.4 million in 2009, the worst year since 1982.

In 2012, they could climb as high as 13.8 million, close to what experts consider a healthy market - around 14 million.

December sales could reach an annual rate of 13.4 million, which would make it the second-strongest month of the year.