The auto sales numbers are out and the SAAR is 14.1 Million, the most since May 2008 according to Bloomberg.

SAAR stands for seasonally adjusted annual sales rate, extrapolated from month sales data.

Much of this is due to Cash for Clunkers. Without cash for clunkers we have estimated:

GM and Ford each said that without the rebates, the annual sales rate in August would have been 10.5 million vehicles, an improvement from the 9.7 million rate in June, the last month without the incentives.

GM expects U.S. auto sales to total 10.5 million for 2009, while Ford projects the figure to be 10.5 million to 11 million. Last year’s total was 13.2 million. Both automakers projected sales to be stronger in the year’s second half.

The SAAR rates were July, 11.2 million and a 9.6 million average for the entire 2009 year before cash for clunkers.