In surprise, October auto sales up

DETROIT — Fueled by increased demand from rental car companies, strong truck and SUV sales, and recovery from hurricanes in Florida and Texas, U.S. auto sales appear to have posted a surprise increase in October.

It would be the second straight monthly increase for the industry, which before September hadn’t posted positive numbers in any month this year.

Analysts say even a strong finish to the year won’t be enough to match last year’s record sales of more than 17.5 million. Still, the industry should finish 2017 close to the record at around 17 million vehicles.

Ford, Honda, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen all reported gains for October, defying expectations that buyers would pull back and that fewer people than expected would replace hurricane-damaged vehicles. Fiat Chrysler, General Motors and Hyundai reported declines, with most automakers posting October numbers Wednesday.

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 were up 43 percent. Analysts said Nissan also had a big increase in fleet sales, although the company said sales to individual buyers rose as well.

Toyota and Honda each reported gains of about 1 percent, while VW brand sales were up nearly 12 percent.

At 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. Hyundai sales were off more than 15 percent with car sales suffering as buyers shift toward trucks and SUVs.

Most industry analysts had expected October sales to fall after a big increase in September. But stronger-than-expected demand for pickups and SUVs, bigger incentives such as cash rebates, and higher sales to big fleet buyers drove the increase, said Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting for the LMC Automotive consulting firm.

While some fleet sales are profitable, those to rental car companies generally are made at low profit, and that can cut into automakers’ bottom lines. But some companies such as Nissan seemed to go for the higher sales number, said Akshay Anand, executive analyst for Kelley Blue Book.

If history is any indication, November will be a good month to buy vehicles because companies are likely to raise already high discounts, Anand said. “If they push with incentives, I think you may see some strong sales months” yet this year, Anand said.

Truck and SUV sales will be 65 percent of new vehicle sales in October, with cars in the 35 percent range.