AFP – Chrysler is poised to rake in almost $2 billion in cash this year after sales of cars and trucks soared in 2011, the head of the US automaker and Italy’s Fiat, Sergio Marchionne, said Monday.
“We’re generating cash. The house is in good order,” Marchionne told a news conference at the annual Detroit auto show.
He estimated “almost two billion” would flow into the Fiat-controlled company’s coffers.
Chrysler Group, the smallest of the Detroit “Big Three” automakers, has made a solid U-turn under the guidance of Marchionne after emerging from bankruptcy in 2009.
The company raised its 2011 forecast of cash flow to more than $1.2 billion from previous estimate of above $1.0 billion when it reported in October a swing into profit in the third quarter.
Last week the Auburn Hills, Michigan-based company posted the biggest 2011 gain in US vehicle sales among its major competitors: a jump of 26 percent from the prior year.
Confirming that by 2015, Fiat and Chrysler “will be one single company,” Marchionne said that operationally “it is already functioning as one company.”
Marchionne, the chief executive of Fiat and Chrysler, said the next steps will involve defining the corporate structure of the transatlantic firm.
The decision on where to locate the future company’s headquarters has not been made, but he confirmed media reports that it could be in the Netherlands.
“The Europeans would see it as a victory” and “the Americans wouldn’t care” as long as Chrysler remains a viable company, he said.
Fiat took over operational command of the US automaker in June 2009, when Chrysler emerged from a government-supported bankruptcy. In June 2011, it took a majority stake and now controls 58.5 percent of the company.

AP – Car buyers shrugged off bad economic news and a major East Coast hurricane last month, lifting U.S. sales for most automakers.

General Motors, Chrysler, Ford and Nissan reported surprisingly strong sales results on Thursday. Toyota and Honda, however, continued to be hurt by model shortages from the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Both reported large sales drops.

Industry analysts had expected a weaker August because of consumers’ anxiety about the economy and Hurricane Irene, which forced many dealers to close during the key final weekend of the month.

But Don Johnson, GM’s U.S. sales chief, said other factors are making cars more attractive to buyers, including new products, low interest rates and stronger household budgets.

“Consumers are being cautious, yes, and appropriately so, but they are not retrenching,” he said. “All indications to us are that the industry is going to continue to slowly grow through the rest of the year.”

Chrysler sales led the way in August with a 31 percent increase from a year earlier. GM’s sales rose 18 percent, Nissan was up 19 percent and Ford reported an 11 percent increase. Toyota sales were off almost 13 percent, while Honda sales were down 24 percent.

Honda and Toyota lost sales because of parts shortages caused by the earthquake. Dealers ran short of many top-selling models. Sales of the Toyota Corolla compact were down 19 percent, while Honda Civic sales were off 47 percent. Both companies expect better sales in September because their factories are returning to normal production.

Chrysler reported its strongest August since 2007 with sales led by Jeeps and minivans, while Ford said sales of its redesigned Explorer sport utility vehicle quadrupled over last year. Nissan’s sales were fueled by subcompact and midsize cars such as the new four-door Versa and Altima sedan.

GM’s big increase was sparked by the Chevrolet Cruze compact, which accounted for one in every 10 GM vehicles sold. The Cruze, introduced last year, has been a top seller for the company since the start of the year, giving the company its first strong product in a growing market. Cruze sales topped 20,000 for the fifth straight month. Buyers also went for the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain small crossovers.

Auto sales had been a bright spot for the U.S. economy through May, but began sputtering in the summer as consumer confidence waned and a March earthquake in Japan caused shortages of Honda and Toyota models. Then came the hurricane, which forced many East Coast dealers to close in the month’s final weekend. Normally buyers come out on the last weekend, lured by deals and advertising.

Even before the storm, J.D. Power was forecasting total sales of 1.07 million for the month. While that forecast is 4 percent higher than August last year, it’s still a much slower pace than at the start of 2011.

Sales could improve this fall when automakers offer sweeter deals and a wider selection of models.

Cash-back offers, low-interest loans and other deals have been scarce this summer because of the model shortages. But they’re expected to return as Honda and Toyota replenish their dealer lots in September and October and try to win back market share lost during the earthquake shortfalls.

Toyota will also begin selling its new Camry sedan in October, which could lift sales.

The industry remains cautious. The unemployment rate is stuck at 9 percent, food and clothing costs are going up and consumer confidence dropped to its lowest level in more than two years in August.

To boost next month’s sales and help people whose cars were damaged by the hurricane, GM is offering to defer payments for 90 days. It’s also giving $500 toward the purchase or lease of a new vehicle. The offer is for areas designated major disaster areas by the federal government.

Sales of GM’s full-size pickup — the GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado — rose 10 percent after being slow for much of the year.

Bloomberg – Toyota Motor Corp. aims to rebound from three years of crisis with a new Camry, the top-selling U.S. car, as it speeds up factory lines slowed by an earthquake to regain sales lost to Hyundai Motor Co. and other carmakers.

The 2012 Camry has the best safety, handling and fuel economy among U.S. midsize sedans, with the hybrid version averaging 41 miles per gallon of gasoline, a 24 percent increase, said Bob Carter, group vice president of U.S. sales. Production starts today at Toyota’s Georgetown, Kentucky, plant, with sales to begin in October, the company said.

While Toyota is set to lose its ranking as the world’s largest automaker this year, the company is determined to sustain Camry’s run as the U.S. best-seller, a position held for 13 of the past 14 years. Japan’s March earthquake slowed Toyota plants in the months following, exacerbating efforts to recover from recession and last year’s record recalls.

“In midsize sedans, Toyota and Honda face headwinds so strong that only a truly breakthrough product could bring them back to their glory days of volume and transaction price,” said Eric Noble, president of the Car Lab, an industry consulting firm in Orange, California. “This doesn’t appear to be that product.”

Toyota unveiled the car on Paramount Studios’ “New York City” backlot in Hollywood, populated with 200 actors and musicians to create an urban feel. The production was webcast and shown at events in New York; Dearborn, Michigan; and Toyota’s Georgetown, Kentucky plant, where Chief Executive Officer Akio Toyoda drove a car off the assembly line.

‘Show the World’

Camry is symbolic of the company’s success, said Toyoda, who added that he has “100 percent confidence” in the new version. “This is an opportunity to show the world what Toyota is all about,” he said.

Toyota’s goal is to sell 360,000 in the U.S. next year, said Greg Thome, a spokesman.

Through July, Camry sales slipped 7.8 percent to 174,485. Nissan Motor Co.’s Altima gained 17 percent to 153,182, second- most among midsize cars. Hyundai’s Sonata had a 27 percent sales gain, Ford Motor Co.’s Fusion rose 17 percent, General Motors Co.’s Malibu increased 11 percent and Kia Motors Corp.’s Optima more than doubled.

“There is no vehicle in our lineup today as important as Camry,” Carter said last month at a preview of the line in Cle Elum, Washington. “This is a vehicle we’ve got to get right. We absolutely expect Camry will continue as America’s best-selling car.”

Sales Decline

U.S. deliveries for the Toyota City, Japan-based automaker’s three brands fell 7.1 percent this year through July to 943,590, its lowest for the period since 1999. Total U.S. light-vehicle sales grew 11 percent.

Toyota’s American depositary receipts, each representing two ordinary shares, rose $2.34, or 3.3 percent, to $72.88 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have gained 4.2 percent in the past 12 months.

“There’s no indication that the new Camry will be better than Sonata or Optima,” said Noble, who said he hadn’t yet driven the new Toyota model. “For some buyers, the new Camry will only be measured relative to the last one. That doesn’t gain you market share.”

Even if the new car doesn’t lure drivers from Hyundai, Ford, Kia, Honda Motor Co. or Volkswagen AG, Camry has the largest owner base of any midsize sedan in the U.S., Carter said. Toyota estimates more than 6.8 million Camry models are on the road in the U.S., with 90 percent sold since 1995.

Unmatched ‘Foundation’

“That’s a foundation no other manufacturer has,” Carter said.

Toyota’s best year for Camry was 473,108 in 2007, after the current version came out, and it’s been the best-selling car in the U.S. for the past nine years.

The success of Sonata and Optima comes from “expressive styling” that’s appealing to more consumers, Noble said.

Changes to Camry’s exterior styling are more “evolutionary” rather than “revolutionary,” Carter said.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/08/23/bloomberg1376-LQ7CL61A1I4H01-2AE7GU8M8GR8V7TKUQO500R5AL.DTL#ixzz1Vt5nkMYB

Fox News – General Motors Corp. (GM: 32.02, -1.02, -3.09%), for decades the No. 1 car seller in the world, has been derided in recent years as ‘Government Motors.’ Meanwhile, fellow Big Three Detroit auto maker Chrysler was all but left for dead.
Then, as quickly as you can say bankruptcy, all that has apparently changed.
Just two years removed from Chapter 11 both companies are profitable again and looking to reclaim their dominant positions in the revitalized global car market.
Perhaps more than any other factor — downsized operations, fresh leadership, new product lineups — GM’s and Chrysler’s revivals can be attributed to the mountains of debt that disappeared when the two companies emerged from bankruptcy in mid-2009.
“Bankruptcy allowed them to shed an enormous amount of debt,” said Bill Visnick, an analyst with auto research firm Edmunds.com.

GM was carrying about $65 billion in liabilities when it filed for Chapter 11 protection, according to court filings, while the much smaller Chrysler owed $6.9 billion to its creditors. Restructuring that debt meant the two companies could vastly reduce their debt service payments and direct that money elsewhere into their operations.
If not for that debt restructuring, it’s highly unlikely either company would have generated a profit for many years regardless of their respective Draconian cost cutting measures. And that’s if they survived at all.
“Both companies vastly restructured their balance sheets. That debt had been hanging over their heads for decades, cutting into their profits and weighing on their balance sheets in many other ways,” said Visnick.
On Thursday, GM said its first quarter profits had tripled from a year earlier, soaring to $3.2 billion during the first three months of 2011, up from $900 million a year ago. It was the fifth straight profitable quarter for GM.
Chrysler on Monday reported its first profitable quarter since it, too, emerged from a government orchestrated bankruptcy in the summer of 2009. Actually, it was Chrysler’s first profitable quarter since 2006.
What’s more, both companies are inching closer to paying back their controversial government bailouts. GM has paid off nearly half of the $50 billion in taxpayer funds it received at the height of the financial crisis, and Chrysler is currently negotiating private loans and a debt offering in an effort to pay off the $7 billion it received from the U.S. and Canadian governments.
The Chrysler turnaround is perhaps even more remarkable than GM’s. In the first quarter, Chrysler took in $116 million after losing $197 million during the same quarter a year ago. The company’s revenue jumped 35% to $13.1 billion primarily due to an 18% increase in global sales of its vehicles.
Yet less than two years ago, Chrysler’s long-term viability was in serious doubt. In fact, if Italian carmaker Fiat hadn’t stepped in as a partner it’s very likely Chrysler wouldn’t have survived.
Timing has also played an important role in GM’s and Chrysler’s turnaround.
Certainly the earthquake and tsunami that devastated coastal regions of northern Japan in March have provided an opportunity for American car makers to play catch up with Toyota (TM: 79.56, -0.20, -0.25%) and Honda. But the foundation for a reversal of fortune was being laid well before disaster struck in Japan.
“GM and Chrysler entered and emerged from bankruptcy at perhaps the perfect time, getting a fresh start at the bottom of a down economic cycle,” said auto industry expert David Magee, author of the book How Toyota Became #1.
After decades of allowing costs to soar, the bankruptcy proceeding forced both companies to do what they should have done years ago: slash payrolls, close factories and cut their product lines.
In other words, they aligned their operations and costs with actual demand for their products. Consequently, in the past two years they’ve been making just enough cars to meet demand without creating inventory surpluses. That’s allowed them to price the cars at a level that in turn generates a profit.
In the past, both GM and Chrysler — especially GM — were churning out far too many vehicles, which resulted in bloated inventories at dealerships. Those surpluses required dealers to slash prices to levels that cut deeply into profits.
GM and Chrysler are doing something else: they’re making cars Americans want to buy. Namely, smaller, more fuel-efficient models.
“GM was quickly in gear with smaller cars, the Cruze being a prime example,” said Magee.
The Cruze, which is priced moderately at around $16,500 and gets about 36 miles per gallon on the highway, was credited by GM as a significant contributor to its strong first quarter numbers.
Chrysler is retooling several of its popular Jeep models to reflect the shift away from gas guzzlers, and is reportedly planning to add a 40-mile-per-gallon small car to its Dodge brand in the next year or two.
Ford (NYSE: F), which alone among the Big Three U.S. car makers never needed a bailout, was well ahead of its Detroit competitors in this area. Even its wildly popular F-Series pickups have been refitted in recent years with more fuel efficient engines, and the Ford Focus has emerged as a perennial best seller now that car buyers are once again trying to cut down on gas costs.
It may have taken a financial crisis and a near-death experience for GM and Chrysler, but both companies seem to have finally gotten the message.

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2011/05/05/gm-chrysler-dead/#ixzz1LWSUWBwX

Reuters – Shares of Zipcar Inc (ZIP.O) soared 55 percent in their Nasdaq debut as investors bought into the leader of the small, but growing, U.S. car-sharing industry.

Zipcar’s IPO was one of four debuting in New York on Thursday, with another company’s shares — McDonald’s South American franchisee Arcos Dorados (ARCO.N) — also rising well above their IPO price.

Zipcar traded at $27.90 and Arcos added 24 percent to trade at $21.05, after both garnered enough investor demand on Wednesday to sell more shares than originally planned and at a price $2 above the expected range.

“Investors look for solid deals and association with brands, like Zipcar or McDonald’s,” said Josef Schuster, founder of Chicago-based IPO investment firm IPOX Schuster.

“(Their success) shows the underpinning strength of the U.S. IPO market, which is much stronger than anywhere else in the world and that’s quite a reversal from a year ago.”

The U.S. market for IPOs has been picking up and the country surpassed China in global equity capital raising in the first quarter. According to Thomson Reuters data, 26 companies raised $14.9 billion in the first quarter, more than triple what was raised in the year-earlier period.

With the IPO market heating up, concerns have been simmering whether the strengthening of the market could turn into a capital-raising bubble.

“I do not believe this IPO market is frothy, I think the IPO market is healthy. I think investors have been showing discipline,” said Paul Donahue, co-head of Americas equity capital markets at Morgan Stanley.

DRIVING THE SECTOR

Nearly a decade old, Zipcar is a leader in so called car-sharing, a service that allows people to rent cars at an hourly or daily rate and park in convenient reserved spots — something especially appealing in urban areas and around college campuses, where fewer people own cars and parking is scarce and expensive.

“It is an infant industry with a lot of upside in both U.S. and internationally, and Zipcar owns this space right now,” said Neil Abrams of Abrams Consulting Group Inc, who specializes in car rental and sharing.

Large car rental companies such as Hertz Global Holdings Inc (HTZ.N), Enterprise Holdings Inc EPRIH.UL and U-Haul, owned by Amerco (UHAL.O), have tried to replicate the service, but their rival car-sharing segments are still just a fraction in size compared with Zipcar.

Rising energy prices and expansion of metropolitan areas are giving car sharing and Zipcar a perfect opportunity for growth, analysts said.

Venture capital-backed Zipcar has yet to become profitable, reporting an accumulated deficit of $65 million in 2010 and warning investors it expected a net loss in 2011 as well. But the company’s revenue grew 42 percent to $186 million in 2010 after adding 24 percent in 2009.

Zipcars are mostly roaming the streets of 14 big cities and 230 college campuses around the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

DETROIT (AP) – Auto parts supplier Delphi Automotive LLP said Thursday it is buying back ownership stakes from General Motors Co. and the federal government for $4.4 billion, a move that strengthens the company’s balance sheet ahead of a potential public offering.

Delphi will pay $3.8 billion for shares owned by GM and $594 million for shares owned by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. Delphi is using cash as well as a $3 billion credit facility for the purchase.

“These transactions represent an important step in positioning Delphi to continue to increase shareholder value,” Delphi President and CEO Rodney O’Neal said in a statement.

The deal also helps GM boost its first-quarter earnings, which will be critical for the automaker as it continues to woo investors after its own public offering in November.

GM said it will book a gain of $1.6 billion from the sale. It paid $1.7 billion for the stake in Delphi in 2009, but that was revalued at $2 billion at the end of last year. GM also noted that it sold its preferred stock in Ally Financial for $1 billion earlier this month, for a first-quarter gain of $300 million.

“We are systematically delivering on our commitment to strengthen and simplify our balance sheet,” said Dan Ammann, who will become GM’s senior vice president and chief financial officer Friday.

Delphi is GM’s former parts division. It was spun off from GM in 1999 and went into bankruptcy protection in 2005. Delphi was acquired by a group of private investors in 2009.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. obtained its interest as a partial settlement of its claims when Delphi terminated its pension plans in bankruptcy court. The PBGC has been paying pension benefits to 70,000 Delphi workers and retirees since 2009.

The agency said it doesn’t yet know how Thursday’s action will affect retiree benefits but will inform Delphi retirees when its calculations are complete.

The PBGC has taken responsibility for $6.1 billion in pension payments from Delphi, making it one of the largest financial losses in the agency’s 36-year history.

AP – Nissan Motor Co. plans to resume auto and parts production at more Japanese factories next week, but it may be several months before inventories and other elements of the country’s auto industry return to normal.

Nissan said it will resume production of parts at five plants Monday. It then plans to resume vehicle production Thursday as long as supplies last.

Most of Japan’s auto industry shut down after a powerful earthquake and tsunami devastated the country earlier this month. Nissan and other carmakers have started resuming some production, but the industry still faces rolling blackouts and infrastructure problems.

Supply levels probably won’t return to normal until mid to late summer, said Michael Robinet, director of global production forecasting for IHS Automotive.

“They certainly wouldn’t start up if they didn’t have all the components,” he said. “How long they can stay producing is anybody’s guess.”

Honda Motor Co. has said it will suspend automobile production until Wednesday. More than 100 of its suppliers are based in the area near where the earthquake and tsunami hit, according to IHS. It told U.S. dealers in an e-mail it can’t guarantee when production will return to full capacity.

Toyota Motor Corp., which builds the Prius hybrid and Lexus luxury cars in Japan, has shut its assembly plants there through at least Tuesday. Mazda Motor Corp. also said it would resume temporary production Tuesday at a couple plants.

Problems in Japan have affected production in other countries too.

GM said last week it will halt production at a Shreveport, La., plant that relies on Japanese-made transmissions for the two small pickups it produces. It also said two of three shifts will be canceled at a plant in Eisenach, Germany on Monday and Tuesday. Another plant, in Zaragoza, Spain, will remain closed Monday.

Nissan said last week that it was resuming production at its Kyushu plant for as long as parts last. On Sunday, the company said it would expand production this week to include its entire process from parts to vehicle assembly.

But the plants it restarts will not be at full production, said Nissan Americas spokesman David Reuter.

Nissan’s Iwaki engine plant also will remain closed. That plant is closer than other locations to the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex.

Reuter said the company is still figuring out the impact from the earthquake, so they don’t have a definite sense for how long they can sustain production. Nissan factories had mostly minor damage, and most of the work there involves rebalancing or realigning machinery.

But infrastructure problems remain big issues for Nissan, other carmakers and all their suppliers, Robinet said.

Northeastern Japan is a major center for auto production, with many parts suppliers and a network of roads and ports for speedy distribution. It also is home to steel plants, oil refineries and nuclear power plants, some of which were severely damaged by the disaster.

Factories lose an “incredible amount of efficiency” if rolling blackouts cut power because machines and plants can be difficult to restart, Robinet said.

He noted that road problems can make it harder to get suppliers and workers to factories, and troubles with a water supply also can affect operations.

“If it were only one problem, certainly everybody could focus their attention on it, but there are several issues,” he said.

DETROIT (AP) – The disaster in Japan could slow shipments of popular cars like Toyota’s Prius to auto lots. And many dealers are already taking advantage of expected shortages to raise prices.

Buyers will now typically have to pay sticker prices, instead of enjoying discounts that had been the norm for small cars and hybrids imported from Japan. Besides the Prius, models that suddenly cost more include Honda’s Insight, Fit and CR-V; Toyota’s Yaris; and several Acuras and Infinitis.

Small cars such as the Yaris, with a $12,955 sticker price for a base model, and the Honda Insight, priced at $18,200, are losing their typical discounts of 5 percent to 10 percent.

The price increases “will last weeks, if not months,” says Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends and insights for TrueCar.com, a website that tracks what cars sell for at dealerships.

Dealers are acting on the possibility that disruptions in car deliveries from Japan will cause a shortage of higher-demand vehicles. Demand will exceed supply.

So they won’t cut deals on those cars, Toprak says.

Car buyers rarely pay sticker price, also known as the MSRP or Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price. Companies typically offer discounts of a few hundred to a few thousand dollars off the MSRP. Many also provide low-rate financing.

On top of all that, there’s typically room for further negotiation. Toyota, for example, had been offering a $500 rebate on the Prius, plus zero-percent financing. And it offered a $1,000 rebate on the Yaris.

Many smaller cars and hybrids are built in Japan, where car manufacturing has mostly stopped in the aftermath of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis.

Toyota says it’s shut down production until Tuesday. Honda remains closed and hasn’t said when its plants will restart. A shipment of more than 1,000 Nissan and Infiniti cars that was headed to the United States was destroyed in the tsunami. At least one hybrid battery maker is shut down, threatening supplies of hybrid cars.

“Prices have firmed up, and the tsunami is only going to help that,” says John Hawkins, a Los Angeles-area dealer who runs three Honda dealerships.

Even before the disaster, dealers were reporting a shortage of hybrids such as the Prius, which had been in demand because of higher gas prices. The Prius uses a combination of electric and gasoline power and gets 51 mpg.

A month ago, Dave Conant said his Toyota dealership in San Diego had 57 Prius hybrids for sale. Today, he has three or four. Priuses carry a sticker price of $23,050 for a base model.

“We’re going to run out of cars,” he says.

So he’s no longer willing to make a deal.

The disaster in Japan changed everything. Before last week, Toyota had been stepping up production of Priuses. Dealers wanted to sell as many as they could. But now, Conant says he and other dealers are no longer willing to sell their fuel-efficient cars for less than sticker price.

“We had five on the ground yesterday, and I don’t know when I’ll get another,” he says. “The market has shifted pretty quickly and dramatically.”

Some critics argue that dealers are using the Japan disaster, and the threat of car shortages, as an excuse to raise prices. Eric Ibara, director of residual price consulting for Kelley Blue Book, says any price increases in the market now are “pure speculation” that some models will face shortages.

Toyota declined to comment.

Honda spokesman Jeffrey Smith says the automaker is still assessing the impact of the Japan crisis on its supply of cars. But for now, dealers have enough Japanese imports on hand, and more are on the way, he said.

Infiniti announced price increases Monday for about half its models. Buyers will pay between $400 and $950 more per model. But Infiniti spokeswoman Paula Angelo says the price increases are unrelated to the Japan disaster.

“It’s our normal practice to make mid model-year price adjustments,” Angelo says.

Used cars may be affected, too. Higher prices on new cars will mean higher prices on used ones, says Tim Jackson, president of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association. Once supplies of small cars and hybrids tighten and dealers stop negotiating on price, many customers lower their sights. Cheaper used cars become more appealing.

That higher demand drives prices up.

“Dealers will pay more at auction or for trade-ins, and it will result in a higher price for consumers,” Jackson says.

DETROIT (AP) — As more U.S. buyers head back into auto dealerships, automakers are jostling for their attention with sweetened deals.

The major automakers knocked a little extra off sticker prices in February, giving additional momentum to a recovery in sales that started last year. The good news for buyers is that discounts are likely to continue into the spring, as older models like the Toyota Corolla and Chevrolet Malibu duke it out with newer models like the Ford Focus and Hyundai Elantra.

“Sales rates are starting to exceed expectations. It’s an opportunity to grab sales from others if you’re aggressive enough and you have the right product,” said Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry analysis at auto pricing site TrueCar.com.

All the major car companies reported double-digit gains for last month. Improving economic conditions and consumer confidence could mean more gains in the months ahead.

But automakers’ results came on a day when oil again approached $100 per barrel on continued unrest in the Arab world. Rising oil prices could still put a damper on the industry’s recovery, GM CEO Dan Akerson cautioned on the sidelines of the Geneva Auto Show.

“I don’t think the industry learned a lot of lessons from 2008. They will this time around,” Akerson said of the 2008 spike in U.S. gas prices to above $4 per gallon, which rapidly changed buying habits.

So far, gas prices aren’t having much impact on buying decisions. At AutoNation Inc., the country’s largest dealership chain, customers are increasingly considering fuel prices when they decide what model to buy. But there are other factors, said President and Chief Operating Officer Mike Maroone. The company sees the “freak-out point” that changes people’s car-buying behavior at $4.25 to $4.50 per gallon, he said.

“We’re still a long ways from that,” he said. The nationwide average for a gallon of regular gas Tuesday was $3.375, according to AAA.

Auto sales rose 27 percent in February as the economic recovery continued and consumers felt more comfortable taking on a car payment. The strongest showing came from General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. with increases of more than 40 percent.

The monthly sales rate, when adjusted for seasonal differences and projected out for a full year, was 13.4 million vehicles. That would make it the highest rate since the government’s Cash for Clunkers rebates juiced sales in the summer of 2009.

Discounts are one reason for the impressive sales.

Automakers had largely been able to wean themselves off deals, which hurt their profits, since the industry ran into financial trouble in 2009. But GM fell off the wagon in January, raising incentives by $400 per vehicle. Competitors followed in February, with Chrysler, Ford, Nissan and Toyota all increasing spending on incentives by 6 percent or more over the previous month, TrueCar estimated.

Chrysler Group offered zero-percent financing for 36 months on the new 200 sedan. GM offered $7,000 in dealer cash on the Cadillac DTS and STS sedans. Toyota put $4,000 on the hood of the 2010 Lexus HS hybrid.

Still, incentives are only part of the story.

“A $400 increase doesn’t drive these kinds of share gains and sales gains,” GM’s vice president of U.S. sales Don Johnson said.

Also in the mix is economic recovery, better auto loan availability, low interest rates, increasing consumer confidence and a return of leases, which were almost absent in February of last year because used-car values dropped so dramatically during the downturn. GM said 22 percent of its individual buyers were leasing in February, up from 15 percent in January.

“I would connect all the dots together,” said Paul Ballew, a former chief economist at GM who is now at insurance firm Nationwide.

Analysts don’t expect the incentive skirmish to reach a full-blown discount war. Detroit automakers have fewer factories and no longer have to offer huge amounts of cash on their cars and trucks to keep the plants going. GM, for instance, had average incentives of $4,750 per vehicle in March of 2009, its highest level in 10 years as it headed toward bankruptcy, according to Edmunds.com. Last month, incentives cost GM $3,849 per vehicle. Johnson said discounts should be lower as the year goes on.

Rising gas prices didn’t dampen Americans’ appetites for trucks and SUVs. GM said sales of its full-size pickup trucks rose 65 percent compared with February of last year, a sign that businesses are continuing to replace work trucks. Sales of Chrysler’s Ram truck brand rose 81 percent.

Crossovers like the Chevrolet Equinox — which saw sales jump 92 percent — also continued to be a force in the marketplace. Overall, GM saw a whopping 49 percent jump in sales compared with February of last year.

Toyota’s gain was similar, at nearly 42 percent. But sales in the comparable month were poor because of a string of highly publicized safety recalls. Toyota said it saw strong sales toward the end of the month as it launched its “Number One for a Reason” marketing campaign. The RAV4 crossover was up 85 percent, while the Camry — the top-selling car in the U.S. — was up 64 percent.

Ford’s 10 percent gain was the weakest among the major automakers. Ford said it cut low-profit sales to rental-car companies and didn’t resort to big incentives. One of its best performers was the new Ford Explorer, which saw sales more than double in the month.

“Consumers are going to place a value on each manufacturer’s product. Right now, they’re saying to us, with the incentives balancing out, we still want to be in a Ford,” said Ken Czubay, Ford’s vice president for U.S. sales.

Ford’s Lincoln luxury brand continued to struggle, with an 11 percent drop in sales. One car from Cadillac — the CTS — outsold all of Lincoln combined.

Other automakers reporting Tuesday:

– Chrysler said its sales rose 13 percent on strong sales of Ram trucks and the new Jeep Grand Cherokee.

– Nissan Motor Co. said its sales were up 32 percent. The Rogue small crossover was up 86 percent.

– Honda Motor Co. said sales were up 22 percent. The CR-V crossover saw a 61 percent gain, while the Fit subcompact was up 44 percent.

AP Business Writers Colleen Barry and Greg Keller contributed to this report from Geneva.

DETROIT (TheStreet) – As GM touted its commitment to China in a Beijing media briefing, a new J.D. Power forecast said global auto sales will likely set a new record this year.

The consulting firm said it expects global light vehicle sales of 76.5 million units in 2011, 6% higher than the existing record of 72 million light vehicles sold in 2010.

The report is one more sign that the world’s primary manufacturing industry is poised for continuing gains during the current year.

“Overall growth in the world economy has been supporting further recovery in auto sales,” said John Humphrey, senior vice president of automotive operations at J.D. Power, in a prepared statement. “We’re seeing signals of stability and increased consumer demand for new vehicles as economic optimism increases.”

During 2010, sales growth occurred in North America, South America and Asia, where growth in China was key. Western Europe was a notable exception, as sales suffered due to the expiration of government-sponsored vehicle scrappage programs.

U.S. sales rose 11% to 11.6 million. European sales were flat at 18.2 million units, while western European sales declined 4%. China sales rose about 30% to 17.2 million while Indian sales rose about 30% to 2.7 million, J.D. Power said.

In statements Tuesday, Ford and GM both touted successes in regions where they are historically strong..

Ford said that January sales in 51 European markets were stable at 114,100 units, up by 100 units, with strong sales in Eastern Europe, Russia and Turkey offsetting a 5.2% decline in 19 traditional Western Europe markets. Ford reported an 8.2% passenger car share in Europe in January, down 0.2% from a year earlier, while total vehicle share was 8.3%, down 0.5%.

Meanwhile, GM CEO Dan Akerson told reporters in Beijing that GM will continue to invest aggressively in China, where it remained the sales leader in 2010, when the company and its affiliates sold a record 2.35 million vehicles.

“GM will continue to make China one of our priorities,” said Akerson. “We plan to introduce more than 20 new and upgraded models over the next two years.”

J.D. Power noted that emerging markets accounted for 51% of global light vehicle sales in 2010, the first time emerging markets account for more than one half of sales.

– Written by Ted Reed in Charlotte, N.C.