Drive on!

SacBee: General Motors Co. says its U.S. sales rose 11 percent in May on strong sales of trucks and the new, pint-size Chevrolet Sonic.

GM sold 245,256 cars and trucks in May, its highest monthly total since the Cash for Clunkers deal in August 2009.

Sales of small cars rose 16 percent compared with last May thanks to the Sonic subcompact. Buick sales rose 19 percent due to demand for the new Verano small car.

Pickup truck sales were also strong as construction activity picks up. Chevrolet Silverado sales rose 22 percent.

Obama campaign co-chair and ex-Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland:

“Today’s report that the auto industry is surging ahead is good news for our state and the 1 in 8 Ohioans who depend on the auto industry for their livelihood. Despite what the polls, pundits, and prominent Republicans like Mitt Romney said, President Obama bet on the American worker to spur the comeback of the American auto industry. Now, we have a critical choice in this election between President Obama, who is fighting for us and working to create an economy built to last, and Mitt Romney who would have ‘Let Detroit go bankrupt,’ with devastating consequences for Ohio.”

‘you can kiss the american auto industry goodbye’

Steve Benen: Time for another victory lap – “Chrysler said Tuesday that it had paid back $7.6 billion in loans from the American and Canadian governments, marking another significant step in the revival of the company, the smallest of the Detroit automakers”. The Obama administration is hailing the repayment as proof that its policy worked – an argument that has the benefit of being true. Indeed, Obama’s policy has proven so effective, Chrysler is paying back American taxpayers six years early.

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