AutoNation Sales Up 7% in January (AN, GM, F, TM, HMC)

The country’s largest automobile dealership, AutoNation Inc. (NYSE: AN) reported that January sales rose to 15,966 vehicles, up 7% year-over-year. The sales growth follows yesterday’s reports from General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), and Chrysler. GM posted a downturn, but Ford (up 7%) and Chrysler (up 44%) joined Toyota Motor Co. (NYSE: TM), Honda Motor Co. (NYSE: HMC), and Hyundai to lead to an overall gain of 11% in car and light truck sales in January. Volkswagen AG posted sales growth in January of 40%.

AutoNation noted its January sales by segment:

• 4,894 for Domestic, up 4% versus January 2011
• 8,097 for Import, up 9% versus January 2011
• 2,975 for Premium Luxury, up 8% versus January 2011

AutoNation sells 32 brands at 260 franchised dealers in 15 states.