Mid-December Car Sales Off 3%

U.S. auto producers reported Thursday that their sales fell 3% in mid-December, compared to the strong levels of a year ago.

The six domestic auto makers said they sold 196,209 cars in the Dec. 11-20 period this year, compared to 179,749 in the same period last year. Although actual sales rose, the year-to-year percentage change showed a decline because it is calculated on the daily selling rate. There were nine selling days this year but only eight a year ago.

Mid-December sales figures were reported later than usual because the domestic auto makers were closed between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Sales figures for December and all of 1984 are scheduled to be released today.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the sales in mid-December equaled an annual rate of 7.7 million cars, down from 8.2 million in the first ten days of last month and 7.9 million in the same period last year.

Auto Sales Percentage changes in auto sales for the second 10 days of December are based ondaily rates rather than total sales volume. There were 9 selling days in the 1984period and 8 selling days in the year-ago period. Total import sales are estimated based on incomplete reports.

10-Day Dec. 11-20 Dec. 11-20 % 1984 1983 change GM 115,628 106,284 -3.3 Ford 47,035 41,358 +1.8 Chrysler 26,516 22,922 +2.8 AMC 3,200 4,000 -28.9 VW U.S. 1,424 2,163 -41.4 Honda U.S. 2,939 3,022 -13.6 TOTAL 196,209 179,749 -3.0

*Estimate