Sales rise at Detroit's Big Three automakers

DETROIT?? Chrysler outpaced its Detroit rivals with a 27 percent increase in sales in October, led by strong demand for its Jeep and Chrysler brands. Ford sales gained 6 percent while GM, the largest of the Big Three, ran third with a 2 percent rise in sales.

Chrysler had its best October sales since 2007, selling more than 114,000 cars and trucks last month compared with 90,000 a year earlier.

Ford said Tuesday its U.S. sales were helped by strong demand for its pickups and SUVs. Car sales dropped 8 percent at the automaker, however. Only the subcompact Fiesta and the midsize Fusion saw small increases from last October.

GM's sales were led by the Chevrolet Cruze compact and Equinox crossover. Cruze sales nearly tripled from last year, Equinox sales rose 18 percent.

The automaker's overall sales suffered from rough comparisons with the strong sales it reported at the same time last year.

GM sold nearly 187,000 cars and trucks last month. Car sales were up 4 percent and trucks were up 2 percent. But sales of the company's crossover sport utility vehicles fell 1 percent.

Sales overall had been expected to rise last month to the best pace in two years. People who put off buying cars last summer because Japanese brands were in tight supply returned to the market in October.

Car information site Edmunds.com predicts sales of more than 1 million cars and trucks for the month. When adjusted for seasonal factors, that would be the best pace since the Cash for Clunkers program in August 2009. J.D. Power and Associates also says October sales finished strong, although it forecast a slightly slower pace.

Edmunds economist Lacey Plache called October a "mini-bubble" and said she expects the sales pace to fall off a bit once pent-up demand is satisfied. But Edmunds still expects total U.S. sales to rise by nearly 1 million vehicles to 13.5 million in 2012 compared to 2011. An improving economy, better credit availability and an aging fleet of vehicles on the road all point to higher sales in 2012.

Pent-up demand drove October sales. Many buyers were waiting for Japanese car inventories to improve after the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan cut supplies. Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. will be the biggest market share gainers in October, Edmunds said.

The Japanese automakers had yet to report sales.

Because they had more vehicles at dealerships, Japanese carmakers also offered more deals, which drew in buyers. TrueCar.com estimated that Toyota's incentives were up 13 percent from last October, while Honda's were up 18 percent. Detroit automakers showed little change in their incentive levels. The average incentive offer was $2,669 per vehicle in October, up 5 percent from last year, TrueCar said.

Truck buyers also were out in force in October, drawn partly because of automakers' traditional "Truck Month" promotions. That's a good sign for the economy, since large truck buyers are generally people who need trucks for construction or other work.

Falling gas prices might also be helping push some buyers off the fence and into dealerships. Gas prices now average $3.46 per gallon nationwide, down from a peak of nearly $4 in May.

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45117817/ns/business-autos/

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