Big Three Auto Makers Report Record ’85 Sales

General Motors Corp. today reported record 1985 sales of $96.4 billion, making GM the world’s largest industrial organization. Its profits of just under $4 billion for the year were the highest of the Big Three auto makers.

The Big Three reported record combined sales last year, with a total of $170.5 billion, a 9% gain from 1984.

The three auto makers together earned just over $8.1 billion for 1985 but massive new product investments, heavy tax bills and costly buyer incentive programs reduced earnings by 17% from the record levels of 1984.

For the fourth quarter, GM, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp. earned almost $2.18 billion, off slightly from the $2.2 billion earned in the final period of 1984.

Top-ranked GM last week reported profits of just under $4 billion for 1985, down 11% from the record $4.5 billion reported for 1984.

But GM’s record sales of $96.4 billion, a 14% increase over 1984, dethroned Exxon Corp. as the largest industrial organization in the world and the top Fortune 500 company, marking the first time since 1978 that GM has held the top spot.

Ford Motor Co. today reported 1985 net profits of $2.5 billion, or $13.63 a share, a 13% decline from its record $2.9-billion earnings in 1984 but still its second best year in history.

Chrysler reported 1985 net profits of $1.6 billion, a 31% decline from its record $2.38 billion reported in 1984. Overall sales rose 10% to a record $21.3 billion from $19.6 billion in 1984.