Domestic Auto Sales Rise 6.4%

Domestic new car sales rose 6.4% in mid-November despite declining sales by industry leader General Motors, the eight U.S. auto manufacturers reported Tuesday.

The domestic auto makers said they sold 196,159 cars in the Nov. 11-20 period, up from 184,327 in the comparable 1985 period.

Ford and Chrysler posted healthy gains of 17.1% and 18.4%, respectively, while GM’s sales were off 4.2%.

Industry analysts said Ford and Chrysler sales were boosted by the introduction of new lines. They cited sales of Ford’s Taurus and Sable models as well as Chrysler’s Shadow and Sundance models.

Tom O’Grady, an analyst with Intergrated Automotive Resources, said that the “adverse publicity about GM and favorable publicity about Ford and Chrysler” apparently is affecting sales. In addition to posting disappointing sales, GM has suffered operating losses and recently announced a wave of plant closings.

GM’s share of the domestic market slipped to 50.1% in mid-November from 55.7% a year earlier. Ford’s domestic market share rose to 28.2%, up from 25.6%, while Chrysler’s share climbed to 14.1%, up from 12.7%.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, new cars sold at an annual rate of 6.2 million units in mid-November, up from 5.9 million a year earlier. The rate reflects the number of cars that would be sold if a period’s sales pace continued for a full year.