Auto sector off to excellent start in 2013

After an extremely successful 2012 campaign, the automotive sector picked up right where it left off at the start of 2013.

"Sales are still looking strong," Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds.com, recently told CBS Detroit. "People are still going and buying cars. People are still shopping online. I think overall we are carrying that momentum into 2013, and that's good news."

The auto industry should keep debt collection agencies busy, as all three major American car manufacturers achieved double-digit sales increases in January, according to the news source. Ford topped the list with a 22 percent year-over-year growth, led by the company's new Fusion model, which saw its sales numbers jump 65 percent compared to January 2012.

Chrysler and General Motors, while lagging slightly behind Ford, experienced 16 percent year-over-year increases. Reid Bigland, head of U.S. sales at Chrysler Group, told the source that his company has achieved 34 straight months of growth and produced a $1.7 billion profit in 2012. 

A recent report by TrueCar.com projected that U.S. new car sales in January would be up 15 percent compared to the same time last year, with light vehicle purchases topping 1 million units.

"January is off to a very good start and this momentum will carry forward through the rest of the year with auto sales expected to reach 15.5 million units," said Jesse Toprak, senior analyst at TrueCar.com.

According to the study, January's seasonally adjusted annualized rate will hit 15.4 million new car sales, the same as December 2012 and 1.4 million more than January 2011. Retail purchases are expected to jump 14.2 percent year over year.

The report also predicted a 5 percent annual increase in used car sales for January, estimating that Americans will purchase more than 2.3 million of these vehicles.