Ford
Ford posted a 6.4 percent gain in October sales on stronger truck, crossover and fleet deliveries. Volume rose 6.8 percent at the Ford division but fell 1.8 percent at Lincoln.
Ford said truck sales increased 11 percent and SUV volume rose 5.3 percent, offsetting a 2.4 percent dip in car volume. Retail volume rose 3.5 percent and fleet deliveries rose 15 percent.
GM
GM sales fell 2.2 percent behind a drop of 3.8 percent at Chevrolet. Volume slipped 4.5 percent at Buick and 0.1 percent at Cadillac, but rose 4.6 percent at GMC.
While GM's truck and crossover sales were strong, car volume skidded 24 percent to 52,800 units last month.
Toyota
A 19 percent surge in light truck volume -- an October high -- helped Toyota Motor Corp. post a 1.1 percent gain in volume last month. Deliveries rose 2.5 percent at the Toyota division but slid 7.7 percent at Lexus. Combined car demand at Toyota and Lexus skidded 15 percent.
“The first month of the final quarter of 2017 saw sustained strong sales for the industry, and we expect that momentum to continue through the last two months of the year,” said Jack Hollis, group vice president and general manager of the Toyota division.
Nissan
Strong truck and crossover demand helped Nissan Motor Co. sales rise 8.4 percent last month to 123,012 -- an October record -- with a 10 percent gain at the Nissan brand offsetting an 8.1 percent decline at Infiniti.
FCA US
Lower fleet sales -- 23,220 units, down 43 percent in October -- continue to undermine overall results at FCA US, which reported a decline of 13 percent. Five of FCA's six major brands -- Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge, Ram and Fiat -- posted declines.
Honda
Strong demand for cars helped counter weaker light-truck volumes at Honda Motor Co., which posted a 0.9 percent overall gain in October volume. Sales rose 1.2 percent at the Honda division but dropped 1.3 percent at Acura. American Honda's car sales, led by the Honda Civic and redesigned Accord, rose 5.9 percent while light truck demand slid 3.6 percent. All of the Honda brand's light trucks, except the Pilot, posted declines last month.
Volkswagen/Audi
Volkswagen sales increased 12 percent to 27,732 on growing demand for new and redesigned crossovers. Audi extended its industry-best sales streak to eight consecutive years, rising 9.6 percent to 19,425 with strength from its Q5 and Q7 crossovers.
Subaru
Subaru of America narrowly extended its streak of monthly sales gains to generate its best October ever. Sales in the U.S. edged up 0.5 percent to 54,045 vehicles in October. The brand's winning streak is now at 71 months for year over year sales increases.
Hyundai/Kia
Hyundai Motor America said its October sales fell 15 percent to 53,010 vehicles, despite a 49 percent boost from the Genesis brand. Elantra sales slipped 7 percent to 14,733 vehicles. The Tucson compact crossover posted an 8 percent gain to 8,731 deliveries. Santa Fe crossover deliveries ramped up 15 percent to 13,024 vehicles.
At Kia, sales dropped 9.4 percent to 44,397 vehicles, paced by a 29 percent fall in Soul sales to 9,254 deliveries. Sales of the Forte compact sedan gained 15 percent to 9,219. Cadenza demand improved to 1,021 deliveries from 289 during the same month last year.
SPIFFS
Incentives averaged $3,901 per vehicle in the first 17 days of October, J.D. Power says, topping the month's previous record set last year, by $66. Power says average transaction prices across the industry also set an October record, rising $615 from a year ago to $32,185, suggesting that rising discounts are not putting a dent in profits. For the month, ALG estimates new-vehicle incentives averaged $3,820, up 8.4 percent from October 2016 but down 1.7 percent from September. Among major automakers, GM and Nissan offered the biggest deals last month, ALG says. (See chart below.)
