Austin-area auto sales up 10.2%

November’s increase comes on heels of October’s surprising 41 percent hike.

The sizzling pace of Austinarea auto sales cooled a bit in November, but they remain on an upward trend for the year, a new industry survey shows.

Austin-area auto dealers saw sales rise 10.2 percent last month, compared with November of 2011, according to Freeman Auto Report, a Dallas-based group that tracks new car registrations. Area dealers sold 7,855 new vehicles last month, compared with 7,049 in November 2011, according to the report.

The November numbers come on the heels of October’s surprising 41 percent year-over-year sales jump, and continues 2012’s strong sales rebound for Austin-area dealers.

Year-over-year sales had soared 39.3 percent in July, 27.2 percent in June and 15.2 percent in May.

For the year to date, Austinarea auto sales are up 17.6 percent over the same 11-month period in 2011.

Austin dealers have sold 96,682 new vehicles this year, up from 82,232 in the same period in 2011, according to Freeman Auto Report, which tracked sales in Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop, Burnet, Blanco and Caldwell counties.

November was a strong month nationally for the auto industry, as sales rose 15 percent from the same month in 2011, to 1.1 million, according to AutoData.

That was the industry’s fastest sales pace since January 2008. U.S. auto sales would reach 15.5 million this year if they stayed at November’s rate, far higher than the 14.3 million rate in the first 10