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Cheaper gas helps trucks buck slump

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published November 2, 2006

DETROIT - General Motors posted a 17.3 percent sales surge in October as truck sales revived from a nearly yearlong slump. Toyota's U.S. sales increased 9.2 percent and Ford reported an 8 percent rise, but DaimlerChrysler's sales slipped 1.6 percent.

General Motors Corp., the nation's largest auto manufacturer, said Wednesday that truck and sport utility vehicle sales rose 33.2 percent due in large part to lower gasoline prices.

"That's one reason our trucks, SUVs and crossovers are gaining share," said Mark LaNeve, vice president of sales, service and marketing.

The truck sales offset a 1.9 percent slump in GM's car sales.

GM outperformed Toyota Motor Corp., which said it sold 4.3 percent more Toyota and Lexus cars and 16.3 percent more trucks than in October of last year.

Toyota's performance, though, wasn't enough to unseat Ford Motor Co. as the second-biggest seller of vehicles in the United States. Ford sold 214,806 vehicles in October, compared with Toyota's 189,011.

The sales improvements come on a favorable comparison with October 2005, when sales plummeted for nearly all manufacturers following an incentive-fueled summer frenzy.

Ford, based in Dearborn, Mich., said it sold 22.1 percent more cars last month than in the year-ago period. Even sales of trucks and sport utility vehicles inched up 0.76 percent. The figures include the Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Jaguar, Volvo and Land Rover brands.

Sales at DaimlerChrysler AG's U.S. arm Chrysler dropped 3.2 percent, partly offset by a 12.3 percent increase at Mercedes-Benz, which recorded a record October sales figure.

Nissan Motor Co. reported a 3.9 percent increase in October sales over the same month last year, with an 8.2 percent increase in truck sales and a 0.1 percent rise in car sales for its Nissan and Infiniti brands.

Nissan, though, also had a bad month in October 2005. The company sold 75,095 vehicles last month, compared with 72,279 in October of last year.

Honda Motor Co.'s October sales were nearly flat in October, with trucks up 11.2 percent and cars down 8.8 percent.

Paul Ballew, GM's chief of global market and industry analysis, said the decline in gas prices from a peak of $3 a gallon earlier this year helped the industry as a whole, and truck sales in particular.

"What we're seeing right now is not a movement back into utilities, but at $2.20 a gallon, some of the pressure that was really dampening demand in the utility space has been lessened," he said. "We are not seeing the mass migration out of utilities into cars or crossovers that we saw in the spring."

GM, Chrysler and Ford have struggled recently to match the offerings of Asian competitors as consumer tastes shift to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles. The Big Three have long relied on high-margin pickups and SUVs for most of their sales and are now trying to cope with huge inventories by slashing production.

Best sellers

Automakers released October U.S. sales figures Wednesday. These were the top-selling vehicles for the month, as well as the total number sold and the percent change in sales from October 2005.

Vehicle Oct. 2006 sales Percent change from Oct. 2005

1. Ford F-Series pickup 55,947 2.8 percent

2. Chevrolet Silverado pickup 52,409 78.9 percent

3. Toyota Camry 31,006 -4.1 percent

4. Dodge Ram pickup 28,251 12.6 percent

5. Toyota Corolla 24,642 -8.3 percent

6. Honda Accord 23,645 -12.4 percent

7. Honda Civic 21,343 -10.7 percent

8. Chevrolet Impala 21,130 11.5 percent

9. Ford Taurus 20,750 73.0 percent

10. Honda CR-V 20,413 88.1 percent

Source: Autodata Corp.

[Last modified November 1, 2006, 23:19:50]