New Car Sales to Rise in May, Led by Ford, Nissan, Volkswagen

Sales of new cars in May are forecast to rise as much as 8% year-over-year in the U.S. and bounce back to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of more than 15 million new cars sold in 2013. The best-selling vehicles will be pickup trucks, up nearly 20%, and compact crossovers, up 15.7%, according to auto industry stalwart Kelley Blue Book (KBB).

KBB projects new vehicle sales for May of 1.415 million units, up 6% compared with May 2012 sales, while J.D. Powers and Associates and others are looking for unit sales of 1.43 million vehicles, up 8% for the month.

Sales for General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) are expected to rise 5.6% and the top U.S. automaker is expected to nab market share of 18.3%, according to KBB. Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) will see a sales jump of 8.7%, improving its U.S. market share to 16.6%. Sales at Toyota Motor Co. (NYSE: TM) are expected to slide 1.5% and the company's market share is slated to fall by 1.1% to 14.1%.

The largest sales gain in number of vehicles sold will be posted by Nissan, up nearly 20%, followed by Volkswagen, which is expected to see a gain of 9.2%. Nissan's market share will rise by nearly a full percentage point, to 7.8%, mostly at the expense of Toyota. Chrysler Group LLC is expected to post a gain of 7.3% in unit sales and increase its market share to 11.4%.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Autos, Research Tagged: F, featured, GM, TM