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
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