The hurricane recovery and the strong truck and SUV sales weren’t enough to keep the U.S. car sales high in October. Sales for the month fell 1.3 percent compared with a year ago as slowing demand made it almost certain that 2017 will be the first year with declining sales in seven years. Full-year sales almost certainly will fall below last year's record of more than 17.5 million, although most analysts say demand is still healthy. Automakers reported selling 1.35 million vehicles for the month.
Ford, Honda, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen all reported gains for October on Wednesday, but Fiat Chrysler, General Motors, Hyundai and others posted declines. At Ford, sales rose 6 percent due to a big gain in F-Series pickup demand and an increase in sales to fleet buyers such as governments and rental car companies. Nissan sales were up 8 percent on record sales of the Rogue small SUV, which rose 43 percent. Analysts said Nissan also had a big increase in fleet sales, although the company said sales to individual buyers increased as well. Toyota and Honda each reported gains of about 1 percent, while VW brand sales were up nearly 12 percent.
But Fiat Chrysler sales dropped 13 percent as a 43 percent cut in fleet sales offset an October record for Ram pickup sales. GM sales fell 2 percent as all four of its brands posted declines. At Hyundai, sales fell more than 15 percent with car sales suffering as buyers continued the shift toward trucks and SUVs.
