Car Sales Show Economy to Bloom ... Slowly

Bernard Weinstein, economist and associate director of SMU's Maguire Energy Institute, talks about the latest car sales figures.

April 05, 2010

By OMAR VILLAFRANCA

Ford's March car sales were up compared to last year, and the increase was even higher in the region.

Nationally, reported a 43-percent increase in sales. The Dallas region, which includes Fort Worth, Waco, Lubbock, , Tyler/Longview, Texarkana, Midland/Odessa, ,Ìý Abilene, and Oklahoma, reported a 49.8 percent jump in sales. . .

Bernard Weinstein, a economist at ÃÛÌÒ½´Methodist University, said he is encouraged by the uptick in car sales.

"This economic recovery is for real," he said. "It's going to be a slow, plodding economic recovery, but the green shoots are coming up."

According to Autodata Corp., March car sales were up nationally by almost 25 percent compared to March 2009. Sales for Toyota Motor Corp. were up by 40 percent, and General Motors Co. saw sales go up by 22 percent.Ìý

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April 05, 2010