General Motors had its best month in almost four years, Chrysler had its strongest June in five years and Ford reported record sales for two of its models.

What’s more, Toyota was up significantly from tsunami-impacted June 2011 as its U.S. dealers moved close to 178,000 new vehicles.

These were just some of the highlights from what appears to have been a rather positive month across the board for the major OEMs, as their June sales results began rolling in this morning.

Prior to the month’s end, analysts were calling for dramatic gains in new-vehicle sales, and today’s early indicators seem to point to those forecasts coming to fruition.

In fact, the nation’s biggest automaker, GM, hasn’t posted these kinds of new-vehicle sales since before its 2009 bankruptcy. GM reported today that it moved 248,750 units in the U.S. during June, which was its best sales month since September 2008.

“Across the board, June was a strong month for GM,” stated Kurt McNeil, vice president of U.S. sales operations. “The combination of new products, available credit, lower fuel prices and modest economic growth was a stronger influence on consumer behavior than economic and political uncertainty.

GM’s sales total represented a 15.5-percent year-over-year increase, as each of the automaker’s four brands climbed double-digit percentages from June 2011.

"GM was running on all four cylinders in June with all four of its brands finally showing year-over-year increases after not seeing that trend in recent months," said Michelle Krebs, senior analyst with Edmunds.com.

"The Chevrolet Malibu had a great month with sales over 30,000, with the 2013 Malibu Eco in that mix. Other models of the newly designed Malibu go on sale this month," she continued.

"Higher Malibu sales, though, came at the expense of the Chevrolet Cruze, which had lower sales. Perhaps consumers figure they can get a bigger car for not much more money with not a huge hit on fuel economy. The Chevrolet Volt had another decent month with 1,760 units sold, though GM has lowered its original target for full-year sales," Krebs added. "Cadillac had a stronger performance than it has in some time as it awaits the launch of its two new models, the ATS and XTS, which hit the market soon. Buick also turned it around in June."

Similarly, over at Chrysler, the Detroit automaker hasn’t had this good of June since before its bankruptcy.

It posted 144,811 new-vehicle sales in the U.S., representing its strongest June in five years and a 20-percent year-over-year improvement.

“June was another solid month for the Chrysler Group with U.S. sales up 20 percent and second-quarter sales increasing 24 percent compared with the same period in 2011,” stated Reid Bigland, the president and chief executive office for the Dodge brand and head of U.S. sales at Chrysler Group.

“June also marked our 27th-consecutive month of year-over-year sales growth,” he continued. “Continuous improvement remains a key focus at Chrysler as we have steadily increased sales, improved quality, added production and created jobs.”

Ford, meanwhile, sold 207,759 new vehicles in the U.S. during June for a 7-percent improvement over the same month of 2011.

With 28,500 units moved, the Ford Escape had its best month of all time (June or otherwise), while the Ford Fusion notched 24,433 sales for its strongest June on record. There were 55,025 F-Series trucks sold during the month, which was the best June for this model in five years.

“June was a good month for Ford and a particularly strong month for vehicles like Escape, Fusion, Explorer and F-Series,” said Ken Czubay, Ford vice president of U.S. marketing, sales and service. “The new 2013 Escape also is off to a very strong start, with vehicles selling on dealer lots in less than five days – even topping the strong start of the new Explorer in 2010.”

Offering analysis on the Blue Oval, Krebs noted: "Ford seems to be successfully managing a tricky balancing act as it sells down two outdated versions of its highest-volume models, the Escape SUV and the Fusion sedan. In June, sales of the old and new Ford Escape combined to reach the model’s highest monthly sales volume on record, while the old Fusion generated the best June sales ever for that model awaiting the arrival of the new one this fall.

"Ford trucks also sold well in June, thanks to declining gas prices, low interest rates, signs of life in the housing market and dramatic pent-up demand. The pickup trucks on the road today are even older than the cars," she added.

Outside the Big 3, Toyota sold 177,795 units in the U.S. during June, which marked a 54.3-percent gain from June 2011 on a daily selling rate basis and a 60.3-percent uptick when unadjusted for selling days.
 
Edmunds analysts also touched on why June sales were stronger than expected for the industry.

"There was great pressure from automakers to close June strong, especially after the unexpectedly weak Memorial Day holiday weekend in May. It is the end of a quarter so undoubtedly they wanted to finish big. Two weak months in a quarter would make for unfavorable reporting," explained Edmunds senior analyst Jessica Caldwell.

Krebs chimed in, pointing to pent-up demand, targeted incentive programs, low interest rates and easing fuel costs as catalysts for the strong results.

"According to one of the latest consumer confidence surveys, consumers think now is a good time to buy a car, and they are finding deals on the 2012 model year vehicles that need to be cleared away," Krebs said. "The Big Three’s full-size pickup trucks increased over last year because of declining gas prices, low interest rates, signs of life in the housing market and dramatic pent-up demand. The pickup trucks on the road today are even older than the cars."