Industry in Slump a Year Ago : New U.S. Car Sales Leap 18.8% in Early November
New domestic auto sales rose a brisk 18.8% in early November compared to last year, but analysts said the rise is somewhat misleading because the industry was in a slump a year ago after the stock market crash.
After “Black Monday” last year, fearful consumers held back on major purchases for a while. Also contributing to the slump was a move by auto makers to drop incentive programs that had spurred buying in summer and early fall of 1987.
“(The sales) increase was due to poor sales last year,” said Thomas F. O’Grady, an automotive analyst with Integrated Automotive Resources.
“It’s really not that good. . . . It’s adequate,” O’Grady said.
Still, sales were better for the first 10 days of November this year than for any year since 1984 on a daily selling rate basis, with all three major domestic firms posting gains.
General Motors posted a 16.4% sales gain for the period, while Ford reported a rise of 24.5%, and Chrysler said its sales rose 9.2%.
Three Japanese firms producing cars here--Honda, Toyota and Mazda--also reported large gains for the period, because of expanded production at their new U.S.-based assembly plants.
Honda posted the most striking increase; its sales of U.S.-built cars rose to 10,699 for the 10 days, up 48% from 6,425 last year.
Nissan, however, continues to have problems with its U.S. operations. Nissan’s sales dove 23.9%, from 1,723 units in 1987 to 1,475 units this year.
The total domestic car industry reported sales of 186,521 units in the period, up from 139,575 units in early November last year.
AUTO SALES
Percentage changes in auto sales for the first 10 days of November are based on daily rates rather than total sales volume. There were nine selling days in the current period and eight in the year-ago period.
Nov. % 10-Day 1988 change GM 88,238 +16.4 Ford 57,275 +24.5 Chrysler 26,812 +9.2 Honda U.S. 10,699 +48.0 Nissan U.S. 1,475 -23.9 Toyota U.S. 1,421 +92.5 MazdaU.S. 601 +685.6 TOTAL 186,521 +18.8
