At Ford, the Lincoln luxury brand fell 11 percent, dragging down sales. Sales of the Escape small SUV were down 12 percent after the new version, which reached dealerships in June, was recalled for safety problems. Ford said inventories were also hurt because it can't sell 3,500 Escapes that were damaged in a hail storm.
Ford's best performer was the Fusion sedan, which saw sales climb 21 percent.
Other carmakers reporting sales Wednesday:
— Chrysler, the third biggest U.S. automaker, saw sales rise 13 percent, led by strong demand for its Ram pickup and Chrysler 200 sedan. Chrysler didn't gain much share last year, since it didn't have small cars to compete with the Japanese. But it has gained sales thanks to new small cars like the Dodge Dart.
— Nissan's sales increased 16 percent thanks to a big jump at the luxury Infiniti brand, which has several new products.
— Volkswagen's sales rose 27 percent, led by the new Passat midsize sedan.
— Hyundai sales rose 4 percent thanks to strong sales of the new Elantra sedan.
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