Southfield, Michigan — Hurricane Harvey wiped out the US car market’s shot at its first month of growth in 2017, but rebuilding efforts across the Texas Gulf Coast are about to drive demand for bakkies and new cars to replace those that were lost to floods. After an initial lull period to take stock of the devastation and reopen dealerships, the boost to sales over the next several months could be significant. Harvey may have done more vehicle damage than any storm in US history, destroying as many as 500,000 cars, according to Cox Automotive. In addition to seeing replacement demand from the heavily vehicle-dependent city of Houston, manufacturers led by Ford Motor, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles are expected to sell more bakkies, to support reconstruction efforts and meet demand from a market that already loves the vehicles. The shares of the three largest US car makers rallied on Friday even as the industry-wide sales pace disappointed. "We think we will see sales i...
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