The Detroit three automakers, Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), Chrysler Group LLC and General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) reported July US car sales Wednesday, but the three companies diverged radically. While Chrysler reported double-digit sales growth, both Ford and GM reported sales down on weak fleet demand. GM sales in particular were lackluster, although the weak sales were expected.

The divergent results for Ford and General Motors and Chrysler demonstrate Ford's and General Motors' relative dependence on fleet sales and general difficulty competing against resurgent Japanese automakers. However, July traditionally is a weak month for fleet sales, so the weakness in fleet sales is not unexpected. General Motors said fleet deliveries to rental customers occured earlier in the year than in 2011 and accounted for the drop in fleet sales.

Chrysler and General Motors reaffirmed an expected industry-wide seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales of 14 million on Wednesday.

"The pace of new-vehicle sales remained steady in July despite the mixed economic news, helped by the compelling selection of vehicles and highly optimized incentive programs," said TrueCar.com Vice President of Market Intelligence Jesse Toprak, according to MarketWatch.

Volkswagen AG (Frankfurt: VOW) continued a year of white-hot sales with July sales increasing 37 percent over the previous year. VW has been aggressively pushing to grow U.S. sales.

Likewise, Japan's big three, Nissan Motor Co. (Tokyo: 7201), Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM) and Honda Motor Co. (NYSE: HMC), are expected to report big gains in U.S. July sales as they recover from last year's earthquake and tsunami in Japan and flooding in Thailand which disrupted supply chains and production. Nissan reported sales up 16.2 percent on Wednesday as it continued to recover and racheted up on the pressure on other manufacturer's in the North American market. Honda sales surged 45.6 percent.

Hyundai Motor Co. reported another month of sales growth, although inventory remains constrained for the Korean automaker.

Chrysler Group LLC

Chrysler Group LLC, a subsidiary of Italian Fiat SpA (Milan: F), on Wednesday reported its best July U.S. car sales since before the recession.

Detroit-based Chrysler sold 112,026 cars in July, a 13 percent increase over the year before. July was the 28th consecutive month of sales gains for the company and the best July since 2007. All of Chrysler's brands experienced sales gains, with the biggest percentage increases going to the Chrysler and Fiat brands. Car sales rose 19 percent, while truck sales grew a more modest 11 percent.

Moreover, Chrysler Group recently reported its quarterly operating profits rose to $755 million, its highest quarterly profits in over a decade. Chrysler has experienced a strong recovery after its 2009 bankruptcy and acquisition by Fiat.

July's sales gains were indicative of Chrysler's "disciplined and methodical approach," according to Dodge Brand President and CEO and head of U.S. sales Reid Bigland. In 2012, Chrysler Group has been the only profitable division of Fiat.

Chrysler brand sales rose a whopping 35 percent, mostly on strong demand for the Chrysler 300 luxury flagship sedan. Chrysler 300 sales rose 41 percent in July. Chrysler's year-to-date sales are up 69 percent. July sales of Fiat brand cars rose 22 percent, demonstrating the ongoing popularity of the Fiat 500 line of hatchbacks.

The Ram Truck, Jeep and Dodge brands posted more modest gains. Ram Truck increased sales 15 percent in July, while Jeep gained 7 percent and Dodge gained 6 percent. Jeep was Chrysler's volume leader with 41,559 vehicles sold, but the Ram pickup truck was the best-selling vehicle overall with 23,824 units sold. Sales of the new 2013 Dodge Dart rose 282 percent over June as more vehicles began to arrive on dealer lots.

Chrysler Group had a 65-day supply, 341,699 vehicles, at the end of the month and projected a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 14 million.

Fiat SpA shares rose 0.03 percent to €4.03 ($4.96) Wednesday.

Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) reported U.S. July car sales were down 4 percent compared to the year before due to weak fleet sales.

Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford sold a total of 173,966 cars in the U.S. in July, down 4 percent from the previous year, despite the fact that retail sales rose 2 percent. The rise in retail sales was not enough to offset poor fleet sales, which dropped 16 percent.

Consumers continued to buy Ford's fuel-efficient EcoBoost F-150 trucks, which accounted for 42 percent of overall retail sales. Ford truck sales have been particularly robust due to increased contractor demand driven by rising new housing starts during the summer. The modest gain in retail sales was attributed to overall demand for fuel-efficient cars.

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) shares rose 1.63 percent to $9.34 Wednesday. Ford has been relying on North American profits to offset substantial losses in Europe in 2012.

General Motors Company

General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) on Wednesday reported July U.S. car sales fell 6 percent compared with the year before as retail sales fell modestly and fleet sales plummeted.

Overall July U.S. car sales fell 6.4 percent for Detroit-based General Motors, as retail sales declined 3 percent and fleet sales tanked 41 percent. Fleet sales traditionally decline in July, and the drop was indicated in the company's guidance. Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) also reported a drop in fleet sales.

General Motors reported fleet sales to rental customers were "down sharply in July because planned deliveries occurred earlier in the year compared with 2011." Total fleet sales fell 15 percent in July, but government sales, primarily police cruisers, rose 115 percent.

General Motors particularly struggled to sell trucks in July. Mini, Small and compact car sales rose 41 percent, and retail passenger car sales rose 3 percent. However, truck sales plunged 12 percent. Overall, GM sold 201,237 vehicles in July, and sales of Chevrolet, GMC and Buick brand cars all declined. The only bright spot on the company's sales report was its luxury Cadillac line. However, year-to-date sales for the company are up 2.7 percent.

Despite the overall drop in car sales for the nation's largest carmaker, sales of Cadillac brand cars surged 21 percent on growing demand for the radically redesigned CTS, Escalade, SRX and XTS vehicles. New and redesigned vehicles were strong sellers for GM despite overall poor sales performance.

At the end of July, GM had a 79 day supply of vehicles, substantially higher than competitor Chrysler's 65 day supply. General Motors predicted a seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales of between 14 million and 14.5 million, in line with overall industry expectations.

General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) shares rose 1.37 percent to $19.98 Wednesday.

Nissan Motor Co.

Nissan Motor Co. (Tokyo: 7201) reported on Wednesday U.S. July Car sales up 16.2 percent over the year before on strong demand for cars, particularly the Altima and Rogue models.

Nissan sold 98,341 cars in the U.S. in July, a 16.2 percent gain over the year before when the Yokohama-based carmaker suffered supply chain and inventory disruptions from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and flooding in Thailand. Japan's big three automakers, Nissan, Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM) and Honda Motor Corporation (NYSE: HMC) are all expected to report big sales gains in July as they continue to recover from the natural disasters. North American competition is heating up as the Japanese carmakers complete their reentry into the market.

Sales of Nissan brand cars increased 12.3 percent with 86,722 vehicles sold, while Infiniti brand sales soared 56.8 percent with 11,619 vehicles sold.

The core of Nissan's July growth came from gains in mid-sized car sales. Sales of the redesigned Nissan Altima rose 24.7 percent and accounted for over a quarter of total Nissan sales with 26,602 units sold. Nissan calls the redesigned Altima its "most innovative" ever.

Overall, cars made up over 50 percent of Nissan sales with 53,744 units, up 13.8 percent from the year before.

Sales gains by the Infiniti brand derived from high demand for the G Sedan, sales of which rose 88.8 percent to 6,078. The new massive 7-passenger luxury SUV, the Infiniti JX, also contributed 1,999 units.

Nissan Motor Co. (Tokyo: 7201) shares fell 1.48 percent to 733 yen Wednesday.

Honda Motor Co.

Honda Motor Co. (NYSE: HMC) reported on Wednesday July U.S. sales rose 45.3 percent to 116,944 as the Japanese automaker continues its robust recovery from last year's earthquake and tsunami in Japan and flooding in Thailand.

Sales of Honda brand vehicles rose 46.4 percent to 104,119 compared to the year before, while the company's Acura luxury marque increased sales 36.4 percent to 12,825.

"As our sales momentum continues to build through the summer, Honda is experiencing its best year-to-date sales in four years," American Honda Executive VP of Sales John Mendel said, adding that the company is once again able to fully meet consumer demand.

The Honda brand had its best July sales since 2008, growth which was driven by strong demand for the Accord and Civic, both of which posted sales gains great than 70 percent and accounted for 50 percent of Honda sales combined. Similarly, sales were up 47 percent for the CR-V and 88 percent for the Odyssey.

The Acura brand benefitted from a 142 percent increase in RDX sales while sales of the popular MDX grew 24 percent.

"With the MDX continuing its reign as the top seven-passenger luxury SUV, and the new RDX leading the compact luxury segment, Acura light trucks lead the way for the Acura brand," Vice Presdient of Acura sales Jeff Conrad said.

All of Japan's major automakers suffered from considerable supply chain and production disruptions following last year's natural disasters. Honda and the others have been working to regain U.S. market share in 2012 at the expense of American companies that gained as a result of the disasters.

Honda Motor Co. (NYSE: HMC) shares fell 3.46 percent to $30.41 Wednesday afternoon.

Hyundai Motor Co.

Hyundai Motor Co. (Seul: 005380) reported on Wednesday July U.S. car sales up 4 percent to 62,021 vehicles, the company's best July ever despite constrained inventory for the Korean automaker.

"July was another solid month for Hyundai with surging consumer demand dampened a bit by ongoing shortages of core products like Accent, Elantra, and Sonata," Hyundai Executive VP of sales Dave Zuchowski said Wednesday.

Sales declined slightly in July for the Accent, Santa Fe and Genesis, but the rest of Hyundai's line of vehicles more than made up for the losses.

While the industry average inventory is around 65 selling days, Hyundai has an inventory of less than half that with just 27 selling days worth of vehicles. Hyundai is preparing to ramp up production at its plant in Alabama by adding a third shift to boost inventory in August. Moreover, the company will soon ship its new Santa Fe vehicle produced in Georgia.

The expanded production in the Southern U.S. should help Hyundai "meet demand for our core products in the coming months," Hyundai Motor America CEO John Krafcik said.

Year-to-date sales for Hyundai are up 9.5 percent.

Volkswagen AG

Volkswagen AG (Frankfurt: VOW) reported on Wednesday July U.S. car sales rose 2.3 percent, the company's best July U.S. sales since 1973 during the hey-day of the VW Bus.

Wolfsburg, Germany-based VW sold 37,014 cars in July, a 27.3 percent increase year-over-year. Likewise, year-to-date sales are up 34.1 percent. The company has reported double-digit U.S. sales growth throughout 2012.

The Volkswagen Jetta continued as the company's most popular vehicles with 13,629 vehicles sold in July despite a 13.3 percent decline in sales of the model. The Passat was close behind with 9,007 units sold, an increase of 661.4 percent over the year before. Sales of the redesigned Beetle began to take off with 2,839 units sold and wacky marketing ploys like a "Volkswagen Beetle Shark Observation Cage" for Discovery Channel's "Shark Week" in the works.

Sales grew substantially for VW's larger SUV and crossover vehicles. Sales of the Tiguan rose 41.8 percent, while the Touareg gained 41.8 percent. Sales of the VW Routan fell 31.9 percent.

VW sales have benefitted from positive endorsements by J.D. Power and Associates and Motor Trend which designated the Passat the 2012 Car of the Year.

Volkswagen AG (Frankfurt: VOW) shares rose 0.51 percent to €129.45 ($159.15) Wednesday.

All of the major automakers including Mazda Motor Corporation (Tokyo: 7261), and Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM) report July U.S. sales Wednesday.

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