General Motors recorded its best monthly sales numbers since September 2008 last month, largely due to government intervention.

While The New York Daily News reports that General Motors’ sales are up 16 percent from this time last year, the National Legal and Policy Center pointed out that government purchases of GM automobiles rose 79 percent in June. The Detroit Free Press reports that retail sales of GM vehicles rose less than eight percent, while sales to fleet customers rose 36 percent.

The auto industry will be a campaign issue in the run up to November, and President Barack Obama spoke in Ohio on Friday, touting the success of a local automaker: “What happened in Toledo can happen in cities like Cleveland, it can happen in Pittsburgh, it can happen in other industries,” Obama said. “That’s why I’m running for another term as president — because I want to make sure that it does.”

Making sure the government stays involved in the operations of GM could remain a priority in this election year.

As Daily Finance pointed out earlier this year, the government still owns a 32 percent stake in GM, and cashing out now would cost the Department of the Treasury billions of dollars.