(August 2, 2014) Led by Chrysler Group, Ford, General Motors and Toyota, July auto sales increased more than 9% over July 2013 as the industry continued to enjoy a steady increase in demand for new vehicles. On an annualized basis, the pace of sales was 16.5 million — the fastest pace of any month this year other than June.

Chrysler said its sales of new cars and trucks soared 20% in July — easily outperforming the industry. Ford’s sales increased 9.6% in July, fueled by a 17% increase in Fusion sales and a 32% increase in Explorer sales. GM kept pace with the industry in July despite intense media attention on the company’s recall crisis involving faulty ignition switches and congressional hearings.

GM’s gains were led by the GMC brand, which saw sales increase 22.2%, followed by a 7.9% increase from Buick, a 7.7% increase from Chevrolet and a decline of 2.6% for Cadillac.

Chrysler reported its 52nd straight monthly sales increase. The robust month was led by the automaker’s Jeep brand, which saw sales increase 41%, followed by a 17.5% increase for Ram, 17% for Chrysler, 3% for Dodge and nearly 1% for Fiat.

Sales of the Jeep brand are increasing mostly because of the addition of the Jeep Cherokee, which replaced the Jeep Liberty. Jeep sold 14,827 Cherokees in July. The Cherokee’s success highlights the growing popularity of small crossover and SUVs in the U.S.

Toyota Motor Sales showed a 12 percent increase. Toyota was hot across the board, enough to narrowly outsell Ford for the month. Lexus posted a 19 percent increase, enough to outsell both BMW and Mercedes-Benz in July, although it still trails both in the U.S. luxury brand race so far this year. Toyota/Scion gained 11 percent for the month, led by a 37 percent jump in RAV4 volume.

“The small crossover segment remains hot,” Toyota Division general manager Bill Fay said during a conference call. “We could have sold more RAV4s if we had them.”

Nissan also experienced a solid month with an 11 percent gain. Hyundai-Kia boosted a sales increase of 4 percent. There were a handful of losers, led by Volkswagen, which saw sales slip 6 percent. Honda's sales were off 4 percent over July 2013.

The industry’s July seasonally adjusted annual selling rate was 16.5 million, using new guidelines released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. That’s down from restated SAARs of 16.9 million in June and 16.7 million in May. But it’s the fifth straight SAAR of at least 16 million and more than a million higher than the storm-limited SAARs of January and February.

Sources: Auto manufacturers, press reports