GM, Toyota sales up in strong November for U.S. auto industry
Detroit — November used to be a slow month for U.S. car sales. Not anymore.
Black Friday promotions — some of which began well before Thanksgiving — were expected to push last month's sales to near-record levels. Car buying site Edmunds.com predicted sales of new cars and trucks will hit 1.33 million, eclipsing the previous November record set in 2001.
General Motors' sales rose 1.5 percent over last November, while Toyota and Fiat Chrysler's each saw 3 percent sales gains. Nissan's sales rose 4 percent. Ford's sales were flat, with a 10-percent increase in F-Series pickup sales unable to overcome falling car sales.
Honda's sales fell 5 percent, hurt by a big decline in CR-V SUV sales. But the biggest sales declines were at Volkswagen. VW's U.S. sales plummeted 25 percent, hurt by the company's admission that its diesel vehicles cheated on emissions tests.
Other automakers report November sales later Tuesday.
November was a notoriously slow sales month until about five years ago, when car dealers joined other retailers in promoting Black Friday, according to Edmunds analyst Jessica Caldwell. Now, like Amazon, Wal-Mart and others, dealers started promoting "Black Friday" deals as early as Halloween. Jeep offered zero percent financing for up to 75 months. General Motors Co. teased savings of up to 20 percent of for its Buick, Chevrolet and GMC brands. Hyundai offered an extra $500 on the Sonata sedan between Nov. 20 and Nov. 30.
Ford's U.S. sales chief Mark LaNeve said sales got progressively stronger as November progressed, and the last day of the month was one of the best days this year.
But deals are only part of the reason for this year's strong U.S. sales. Low gas prices, low interest rates, improving employment numbers and enticing new products — particularly small SUVs, like the Jeep Renegade — are also driving consumers to dealerships in bigger numbers than expected.
Last week, sales forecasting firm LMC Automotive raised its full-year forecast and said sales are now likely to reach a record 17.5 million in 2015.
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