By Michael Calia And Joseph B. White
Auto makers in the U.S. beat the Black Friday Blahs that hit
other retailers, racking up strong sales of light trucks and cars
as consumers jumped at holiday season deals.
General Motors Co., Chrysler Group LLC and Honda Motor Co. on
Tuesday posted their best November U.S. sales in at least several
years, powered by strong demand for large pickup trucks and
sport-utility vehicles.
The No. 2 U.S. auto maker, Ford Motor Co., said its sales fell
2%, in part because the company was just starting deliveries of a
redesigned F-150 pickup truck.
Overall results are still being tallied, but the sales pace for
November likely exceeded 17 million vehicles on an annualized
basis, potentially the strongest November since 2003, GM
estimated.
Auto executives also expressed optimism that sales will stay
strong in the coming months, citing falling gas prices, an
improving job market and relatively low interest rates. "By any
measure, consumers are netting significant household income gains
each week" because of the lower fuel prices," said Emily Kolinski
Morris, Ford's chief economist.
While interest rates could rise next year, Ms. Kolinski Morris
said she doesn't see that as a threat to new vehicle demand.
Auto makers also benefited from a mid-November launch of holiday
sales promotions. "The weekend before Black Friday ended up being
pretty big," said John Krafcik, chief executive of car-sales
website Truecar.com. By launching year-end promotions early, he
said, auto makers are creating a "60-day sale" at the end of the
year.
GM said its U.S. sales rose 6.5% to 225,818 vehicles last month,
making it the best November for the company in seven years. Its
retail sales rose 5%, GM said, while deliveries to fleet customers
such as rental car companies jumped 11%.
Sales at the nation's largest auto maker were driven in large
part by double-digit increases in its Silverado pickup, up 24% over
a year earlier, and its Cruze car model, which saw a 26%
improvement. Its GMC brand posted sales growth of 23% as it
advertised discounts of as much as 20% off list prices.
Analysts expected Ford to post an overall decline as it manages
inventory and ramps up production of its new F-150 pickup and
Mustang sports car.
SUVs were a bright spot for Ford, however, as their sales grew
15% to 60,911 units. Escape SUV sales rose 22%, the model's best
November yet, according to the company, while the Explorer model
posted 13% sales growth, its best figure for the month in 10
years.
Chrysler, the third-biggest Detroit auto maker after Ford,
relied on big promotions leading into the holiday-shopping season,
offering a variety of deals that included thousands in cash back
and discounts, and it appears to have paid off.
The U.S. unit of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV said it sold
170,839 vehicles last month, an increase from 142,275 in the same
month a year ago. It was the company's best November since
2001.
Its truck sales rose 18% to 129,320 vehicles. Its car sales,
which had recently been posting weaker results than those for
trucks, jumped 26% to 41,519 units.
The Ram and Jeep brands again delivered for Chrysler,
registering sales gains of 31% and 27%, respectively, while each
enjoyed their best November ever, the company said.
Among other manufacturers, Toyota Motor Corp. said its November
U.S. sales rose 3% from a year ago, driven by strong demand for
trucks and sport-utility vehicles, and the Lexus luxury brand which
had its best November ever.
Honda said its sales rose by 4.6% as the company shook off a
volley of bad publicity from the auto maker's admission that it
failed to properly report incidents involving safety defects to
U.S. regulators. Honda has also been tangled in the controversy
over defective Takata Corp. air bags.
Nissan Motor Co. said its U.S. sales declined by 3.1% over a
year earlier. Sales of its electric Leaf rose 34% in the month, but
some of the company's higher volume models, including its Altima
sedan and Murano SUV, suffered declines. Sales fell 13% at Nissan's
Infiniti luxury division. Sales of the brand's Q50 sedan, its
highest-volume model, slumped 28%.
A big winner in November was Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.'s Subaru
brand, which boosted sales in November by 24%. Subaru said that as
of November 7, it had beat its previous full-year U.S. sales record
of 424,683 vehicles. Subaru has been riding high thanks to strong
demand for new generations of its Outback, WRX and Forester
models.
Write to Michael Calia at michael.calia@wsj.com and Joseph B.
White at joseph.white@wsj.com
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