GM reports stronger volume, Ford down
For the third consecutive month, on an unadjusted basis, total sales increased, with October up 3 percent. When adjusted for selling days, sales declined 1 percent. It is anticipated that GM will see its fourth consecutive month with market share above 24 percent. Since August, market share is up more than 1 point, to 25.1 percent, compared with the same three month period last year.
The month's 229,294 retail deliveries demonstrated solid performance despite continuing industry softness. GM retail sales were led by brisk retail sales of full-size utilities, mid-utility crossovers, the Cadillac CTS, and the Chevrolet Aveo, Cobalt and HHR. The Saturn division showed yet another retail sales increase, up 7 percent.
"Our strong market share performance and our ability to outpace industry trends on volume demonstrates the consumer acceptance of our new products," said Mark LaNeve, GM North America vice president, Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing. "Over the past two years, our new products including the Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra, Cadillac CTS, full-size utilities, and mid-crossovers have all gained retail share following launch. Our committed dealer team has really stepped up to the plate, pushing all of GM's brands above the industry average in the recently released J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction Index."
Cadillac CTS total sales surged 75 percent, compared with year-ago performance, due to the strength of the all-new CTS, now in showrooms. GMC Acadia, Saturn OUTLOOK and Buick Enclave together had total sales of more than 12,800 vehicles, pushing a more than 320-percent increase in GM's mid-crossover segment. Additionally, Cadillac's SRX luxury crossover saw a total sales increase of 37 percent. Total sales of the fuel-efficient Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 were up 81 percent, Chevrolet Aveo was up 58 percent and HHR was up 70 percent compared with last October.
Ford
U.S. sales of Ford Motor Co. cars and trucks were down 9.5% in October, compared to the same period a year ago, bring the company's results for the year down 13%.
Three of the company's six wholly owned brands — Mercury, Lincoln and Land Rover — posted gains in the month. Sales of the Ford brand, Jaguar and Volvo were all down. The company's volume Ford brand was down 13% in the month and is now down 15% for the year.
Trucks posted a small, 0.9% gain the month, while car sales plummeted 26% as the company continues to ease off sales to daily rental companies.
Nissan
Nissan Motor Co. today reported U.S. sales of 84,947 units in October, up 13% from a year earlier.
Sales of Nissan brand vehicles rose 14% to 74,992 from the same month last year. Sales of Infiniti brand vehicles rose 5.8% to 9,955 in October from a year ago.
Nissan’s top U.S. seller in the United States was the Altima, which saw sales reach 21,778, up 47.5% from 14,761 last year.
Toyota
Toyota Motor Sales USA reported its best October U.S. sales ever despite a downturn in its key market of California where the company said sales were affected by wildfires and the housing market.
Toyota reported sales of 197,592 vehicles in October, up 4.5% from the same month last year.
“Showroom traffic was strongest from the Midwest through the Gulf States," said Jim Lentz, executive vice president of Toyota’s U.S. sales arm. “In Southern California, wildfires crimped a key market already impacted by the housing downturn."
The Camry led among passenger cars, even though sales dropped 4.1% from the same period last year to 33,728.
Sales of the Camry hybrid rose to 3,511 units, up 20% from October 2006. The Prius hybrid gas-electric sedan posted its best-ever October with sales of 13,158, an increase of 44.9% over last October.
Sales in the luxury Lexus division increased 4.6%, compared with last October, to 25,119.