News In Brief

February auto sales up 41%, Big Three report

The nation's Big Three carmakers said Monday their February sales rose 41.3 percent, or almost 200,000 vehicles, from last February's selling pace, for their best showing in the month since 1979.

The sales rate slowed in the last 10 days of February from the exuberant rate earlier in the month, which company officials and auto analysts said was not surprising.

But for the first two months of 1984, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler said their car sales climbed 44 percent over the comparable period in 1983.

For February, Ford said its sales were up 54.9 percent, GM was ahead 37.2 percent, and Chrysler improved 35 percent over February 1983.