A domestic-brand sales surge led by pickups pushed AutoNation’s November sales up 16 percent from November 2009.

AutoNation, the industry’s largest retailer, said it sold 15,511 new vehicles in November, up from 13,395 in November 2009, Automotive News reported. Sales of domestic-brand products rose 25 percent to 4,594. That domestic increase was led by a 35 percent increase in pickup sales.

“We’re talking to these entrepreneurs and small businesses every day, and their pickup trucks are old and tired,” AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson said today on CNBC. “But they think the worst is over, and they have more forward orders than they did before, so they’re coming in.”

The domestic resurgence was augmented in November by a 15 percent increase in sales of import-brand vehicles. AutoNation’s import stores sold 7,944 new vehicles in November. Luxury-brand sales rose 5 percent to 2,973.

Jackson said he’s optimistic about December sales and now expects 2011 industry sales of 12.5 million to 13 million.

“What it says is that sustainable automotive recovery is under way,” he told CNBC.

Even so, there is still “massive postponement of purchase” by consumers, Jackson said, which will make the recovery span several years. AutoNation doesn’t expect industry sales to emerge from recession levels until 2013, when they could hit the 15 million mark again.