George and Sheila Snyder, of Washington, Vt., take delivery of their new 2011 Ford Escape from salesman John Cassel, right, at the Formula Ford dealership in Montpelier, Vt., in December. (Toby Talbot / The Associated Press)
U.S. auto sales picked in the final months of 2010 and car companies expect them to keep climbing this year as the economy recovers and buyers grow more confident. With sales of 11.6 million new cars and trucks, 2010 was still one of the worst years in decades. But sales took off in October and November and finished up about 11 percent in December compared with last year. That has car companies starting to think they may reach the heights they saw in the early 2000s, when credit was cheap, incentives were rampant and sales topped 17 million.
Some of the winners, year over year:
• Ford sales rose 15 percent
• General Motors' sales rose 6.3 percent
• Chrysler climbed 17 percent
• Hyundai notched record sales, rising 24 percent
• Nissan rose 18 percent
• Honda rose 7.6 percent
-- The Associated Press
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