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 figures 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, U.S. car and light truck sales hit a 17.2 million vehicle annualized pace in November, according to researcher Autodata Corp. That's the highest November sales pace since 2003, and is up from a 16.3 million vehicle annualized pace a year ago.

Auto executives 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 that shouldn't hurt 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.

European auto makers posted mixed results. BMW AG's sales slipped less than a percentage point mainly because of a 14% drop in sales of its SUVs.

"It's entirely availability," said a BMW spokesman. The Munich-based car maker builds its high-volume SUVs in Spartanburg, S.C., and U.S. dealers have to fight for a share of that production with dealers in China, Europe and other markets.

Volkswagen AG said sales rose 3% at its VW brand, aided by a lease promotion that boosted sales of its Golf and Jetta compact cars. Its Audi luxury-car unit posted a 22% increase in sales over the same month last year.

Daimler AG said U.S. sales of its Mercedes-Benz brand cars and SUVs edged up less than a percentage point despite a 45% drop in E-class sedan sales. Counting strong sales of its Sprinter commercial van, Mercedes said it recorded its best month ever in the U.S. market.

GM's 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 recorded 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 a decline as it manages inventory and ramps up output of its new pickup and Mustang sports car. 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.

SUVs were a bright spot for Ford, however, as their sales rose 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.

Chrysler, a unit of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, said it sold 170,839 vehicles last month, an increase from 142,275 a year earlier. 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, increased 26% to 41,519 units.

Among other manufacturers, Toyota Motor Corp. said its November U.S. sales rose 3% from a year earlier, while Honda said its sales rose 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 3%. 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 with the brand's Q50 sedan, its highest-volume model, slumping 28%.

A big winner in November was Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.'s Subaru brand, which boosted sales in November 24%.

Subaru said that as of Nov. 7, it had beat its previous full-year U.S. sales record of 424,683 vehicles.

Write to Michael Calia at michael.calia@wsj.com and Joseph B. White at joseph.white@wsj.com

Access Investor Kit for Bayerische Motoren Werke AG

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=DE0005190003

Access Investor Kit for Daimler AG

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=DE0007100000

Access Investor Kit for Volkswagen AG

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=DE0007664005

Access Investor Kit for Volkswagen AG

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=DE0007664039

Access Investor Kit for Takata Corp.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=JP3457000002

Access Investor Kit for Toyota Motor Corp.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=JP3633400001

Access Investor Kit for Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=JP3672400003

Access Investor Kit for Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=JP3814800003

Access Investor Kit for Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=JP3854600008

Access Investor Kit for Daimler AG

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US2338251083

Access Investor Kit for Ford Motor Co.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US3453708600

Access Investor Kit for Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US3595562063

Access Investor Kit for General Motors Co.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US37045V1008

Access Investor Kit for Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US4381283088

Access Investor Kit for Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US6547444082

Access Investor Kit for Toyota Motor Corp.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US8923313071

Access Investor Kit for Volkswagen AG

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US9286623031

Ford Motor (NYSE:F)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more Ford Motor Charts.
Ford Motor (NYSE:F)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more Ford Motor Charts.