U.S. car sales rebounded to the best level since 2007 last year.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
Final sales figures are not in yet, but initial results from the top four U.S. automakers -- General Motors (GM, Fortune 500), Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500), Toyota Motor (TM) and Chrysler Group -- all showed gains from a year ago that met or topped forecasts. Chrysler posted the biggest jump, with sales up 10%, while Ford's 1.9% rise was the narrowest.
The industry is now on track for 14.5 million vehicle sales in the U.S. for 2012, a rise of 1.7 million, or 13% from 2011. That's the biggest increase in annual auto sales since 1984.
Other automakers such as Honda Motor (HMC) are due to report December U.S. sales later Thursday.
Related: 2012 auto sales winners
It was the third straight year of double-digit sales growth and the best year for U.S. car and light truck sales since 2007.
More sales gains are forecast ahead, with analysts expecting U.S. sales topping 15 million vehicles in 2013.
Overall auto sales are still far below the average of 16.7 million vehicles a year in the decade prior to 2008, when the bottom fell out of the industry.
Sales for 2012 are poised to be up nearly 40% from the low point in 2009, when GM and Chrysler needed federal bailouts and bankruptcy just to survive and the economy was in the throes of a great recession.
Related: 2013 autos -- what's to come
It also represented a much quicker rebound in sales than had been forecast a year or two ago. It wasn't long ago that most analysts were expecting the industry to take until the middle or even the end of the decade for sales to top 15 million.
But the pent-up demand that has built up since the recession and the slow economic recovery is now starting to release. An improving employment picture and better financing opportunities for car buyers is helping spur a rebound in sales. 
First Published: January 3, 2013: 11:04 AM ET
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