CHICAGO – U.S. auto sales maintained a steady pace of growth in June, and consumers were opening their wallets for more expensive models and upgrades, industry data show.

DETROIT—Employee counts for the Detroit 3 are finally nearing what they had been before the Great Recession.

WAYNE, MI—Saving the American auto industry was the right thing to do, President Obama told workers at the Ford assembly plant here last week, adding that the industry has created some 500,000 jobs over the past five years.

DETROIT—Automotive manufacturers have consistently outpaced the global manufacturing average in recent years, according to a global purchasing managers index.

LOUISVILLE, KY—More than 5,000 people have applied this month for what turned out to be just 50 factory jobs, some of them temporary, at Ford Motor Co.’s assembly plant here.

NEW YORK—During July 2013, more than 8,500 jobs were advertised online in the U.S. automotive industry. That’s a four-year high and a 9 percent compared with a year ago.

DETROIT—From January through May, automakers and parts companies hired 8,000 workers, a relatively slow rate. But the pace is picking up. The Center for Automotive Research expects the industry to add 35,000 jobs over the full year.

MUSCLE SHOALS, TN—CBC America will build a $24 million assembly plant here to make automotive lighting. The company plans to employ 125 workers.

LAFAYETTE, IN—Nearly half of all Subarus sold globally are driven in the United States, and almost all of those will be assembled in Indiana.

DEARBORN, MI—Ford will increase the production at its North American facilities by 200,000 units per year, which adds to an earlier capacity rise by 400,000 units in 2012.