Year-end clearouts driving auto sales

As dealers begin to ship out the 2010 models in order to make way for the redesigned 2011 ones, many buyers are taking advantage of the cheap cars for sale and driving up auto deliveries, according to a new report.

Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg believe that July will be the best month for auto sales since August of 2009, when the Cash For Clunkers program heavily contributed to a spike in new and used car sales. On average, those polled predicted 11.9 million deliveries for the month of July, a 5.3 increase over the previous year. Full results are expected to be announced this week.

And according to TrueCar.com, the industry is helping by offering its largest discounts in years. This year’s closeout prices are 3.8 percent cheaper than 2009, meaning it’s a great time to buy a car.

Cars like the new 2011 Ford Explorer are expected to make the 2010 models fly off the lots. Many of these models then make their way into the hands of used car dealers, where they can be found for even cheaper than the new car prices, even at a discount.