Automakers see huge sales gains in January

Updated 6:30 p.m. ET

Auto sales were on fire for all of 2012, and haven't slowed one bit in the new year.

Automakers saw double-digit sales growth in January, even though consumer confidence waned and paychecks grew smaller as payroll taxes increased.

But several factors were working in automakers' favor. Cars on U.S. roads are nearly 11 years old, on average, and drivers need to replace their clunkers. Automakers have also released some interesting models with a renewed focus on fuel efficiency. Dealerships offered buyers a number of discounts and other incentives. And finally, consumer credit is getting better, interest rates are still low and financing a purchase has become easier.

"The biggest driver of this year’s story is going to be replacement," Ford exec Ken Czubay said Friday on a conference call, according to Bloomberg. "The age of the fleet has continued to get little bit older."

General Motors (GM) and Ford (F) saw their respective stock prices rise Friday as they reported gains of 16% and 22% from a year earlier. GM shares were up 1% in afternoon trading to $28.38, and Ford shares rose less than 1% to $13.05.

Chrysler also saw sales growth of 16% for the month. Overall, analysts think U.S. sales will rise 15% to an annualized rate of about 15 million to 15.5 million, up from 14.5 million last year.

The overall industry came in about even with expectations for the month, with the seasonally adjusted annual rate for light vehicles at 15.29 million units, according to industry tracking firm Autodata. That's a 14% increase from a year earlier and a 23% decrease from December 2012.

Toyota (TM) led the industry with gains of 27%. The company ended 2012 as the world's largest automaker, taking the title back from GM. Still, the race is extremely close. Toyota sold 9.75 million vehicles last year compared with 9.29 million for GM. Toyota's U.S. shares were up 3% Friday to $98.23.

More on moneyNOW

• Who's racist? Not VW, Caribbean groups say
  

• Tupperware CEO blasts cheap US consumers
  

• Jobs report pushes Dow above 14,000