The U.S. auto industry felt like it dodged a bullet in July when retail sales to consumers held up and confounded forecasts for a drop, but then August came and that sense of relief went out the window.

With a still-critical last weekend of sales left that could change the outlook, August U.S. auto sales are expected to offer more evidence of a slower-than-expected industry recovery as General Motors Co (GM.UL) prepares its IPO.

Sales have risen from the worst depths of the downturn last year, but how much farther the rebound goes and how long that will take depends in large part on a strengthening in the economy that would boost consumer confidence and employment.

"We are crawling around," Jesse Toprak, an analyst at industry-tracking website TrueCar.com, said Friday. "It feels like we got a dead car to jump-start but we just can't get it to go over 20 miles an hour."

U.S. [Read the full article]

Ford is recalling 575,000 older model Windstar vans in the United States and Canada over concerns that the rear axles can corrode and potentially break. The recall covers vehicles in the model years 1998 to 2003 sold or registered in areas where the heavy use of road salt can cause more corrosion. That includes Canada, New England, the Mid-Atlantic states and the Great Lakes region. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began an investigation in May after receiving 234 Windstar driver complaints of rear axle problems, which included two crashes. The agency said the design of the axle might cause an excess of salty road slurry to collect on the axle. The safety regulator reported that 96 percent of all complaints were from the “Salt Belt” states where salt is heavily used to prevent freezing during winter months. Get the full newspaper experience, and more, delivered to your Mac or PC. Times Reader 2.0: Try it FREE for 2 full weeks. [Read the full article]