Early September U.S. Car Sales Up: Truck Sales Dip

Rising car sales offset a drop in light truck purchases as sales of North American-made vehicles edged up 2.4% in early September, auto makers said Thursday.

Some blamed higher gasoline prices for the decline in truck sales.

The 10 major companies making cars in the United States said they sold vehicles at an average daily rate of 31,065 units during the Sept. 1-10 period, compared to 30,333 a year earlier.

Car sales for the period were up 6.7% while truck sales dropped 4.6%.

Car sales by General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp. crept up just 0.8%, while sales of cars made by Japanese companies in North America jumped 81.9%.

A 6.8% slide in light-truck sales overwhelmed the car-sales increase for an overall 2.2% decline for the Big Three in the 10-day period.

VEHICLE SALES

Sept. 1-10 % change 1990 year to year GM* 104,352 -1.1 Ford* 64,388 +3.7 Chrysler* 28,739 -16.4 Honda U.S. 10,234 +89.1 Mitsubishi U.S. 768 -20.7 Nissan U.S.* 4,200 +164.2 Toyota U.S. 3,277 +70.9 Mazda U.S. 931 +82.9 Subaru U.S. 334 ** Isuzu U.S.* 229 ** TOTAL 217,452 +2.4

**No comparison possible.

There were 7 selling days in the selling period this year and last year.