Updated 3:45 p.m. ET

After hitting a speed bump in May, auto sales came roaring back last month, with General Motors (GM), Ford (F) and Chrysler all beating analyst expectations.

The strong sales pushed the seasonally adjusted annual rate to 14.08 million units in June, according to industry tracking firm Autodata. That beat the 13.8 million rate seen in May, which was also the rate analysts expected for June. And what a change from a year ago, when the rate was only 11.56 million units.

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Research site TrueCar.com said it expected about 1.24 million light vehicles to be sold in June, up 18% from a year earlier. One factor boosting sales is low interest rates on loans. The average interest rate on a 60-month car loan has fallen to 4.5%, according to Bankrate.com.

The average transaction price has fallen as well. Shoppers paid an average of $500 less for a new car compared with June of last year, according to Kelley Blue Book. The company is expecting sales of 14.2 million units this year, an 11% increase from 2011. The average age of vehicles on U.S. roads is close to 11 years, and many people will buy a replacement regardless of the economic climate.

"If a family in Iowa's only mode of transportation is on the fritz, they are going to buy a replacement vehicle, even if Spain's economy is on the brink of collapse," said Alec Gutierrez, senior market analyst at Kelley Blue Book, in a statement.

GM said its sales rose 16% to 248,750 vehicles, its highest sales since September 2008. Analysts were expecting only a 7.6% increase. "The combination of new products, available credit, lower fuel prices and modest economic growth was a stronger influence on consumer behavior than economic and political uncertainty," said Kurt McNeil, GM's vice president of U.S. sales operations, in a statement.

Passenger car sales rose 12% and truck sales rose 11%, while fleet deliveries soared 36%. GM investors were pleased with the numbers, sending the stock up more than 5% to close at $20.67.

Ford's June sales rose 7% to 207,759, beating the 194,030 expected by analysts at TrueCar. The new Ford Escape set an all-time monthly record at 28,500. Ford Escapes generally sat on dealer lots for less than five days, a stronger start than the new Explorer saw in 2010, the company said. The Fusion also continued to be one of the strongest sellers for the company.

Ford shares rose more than 2% to $9.60 on the news. Shares had been falling steadily all year from close to $13 in January.

Chrysler, which has seen stellar sales all year, said June sales rose 20% from the same period in 2011 to 144,811. Analysts with TrueCar were expecting Chrysler to sell just under 140,000 units. It was the highest June sales month since 2007, the automaker said.

Here's how other automakers fared in June:

Toyota Motor (TM)
Vehicles sold: 177,795
Change from a year earlier: a 60.3% gain
Of note: Even that strong performance couldn't impress analysts, who wanted to see a 66% gain.

Honda (HMC)
Vehicles sold: 124,808
Change from a year earlier: a 48.8% gain
Of note: The super-hot CR-V set a sixth straight monthly record with 23,282 units sold in June.

Nissan
Vehicles sold: 92,237
Change from a year earlier: a 28% gain
Of note: Sales of luxury Infiniti line rose 66% to 10,436.

Volkswagen (VLKAY)
Vehicles sold: 38,170
Change from a year earlier: 34.2% gain
Of note: Nearly 209,000 vehicles sold in the first half of the year, the best first half since 1973.