Vehicle Sales Jump 14.9% in Mid-November

Mid-November sales of North American-made cars and light trucks pulled 14.9% ahead of a slow mid-November period last year, auto makers said Tuesday.

The 10 major U.S. auto makers said they sold an average of 35,646 cars and light trucks a day in the Nov. 11-20 period, up from an average daily rate of 31,032 during the same period last year.

Car sales jumped 18% and truck sales were up 10.1%, the companies said.

General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp. reported a 16.2% gain in domestic car sales while sales of transplant cars, made in North America by foreign companies, jumped 29.5%.

The sales outpaced a market that slumped last fall after auto makers used heavy incentives to boost sales and clear out inventories before the 1990 model year.

Wary of the impact of the slow economy and rising gasoline prices on buyers, auto companies have avoided excess inventories in 1990.

In their latest production cut, the Big Three ordered shutdowns that began Monday, idling 38,000 employees at 14 assembly plants in eight states. The companies blamed slow dealer orders.

Tom Webb, chief economist for the National Automobile Dealers Assn., said Tuesday’s figures showed that economically, “We are not poised at the edge of a cliff.”

“Traffic was up substantially” in mid-November at Highland Chrysler Plymouth in Grand Rapids, Mich., sales manager Chuck Stockmar said. “Elections were over with, for one thing.”

But while sales rose, auto industry analyst Jeannette Garretty of Bank of America in San Francisco said: “They are up over a very weak period last year.

“Consumer sentiment fell very sharply in October,” Garretty said. “There’s still a great deal of concern about where the economy is headed and about where unemployment is headed.”

For the year through Nov. 20, car and truck sales by the 10 domestic makers still trailed last year’s pace by 3.2%, with car sales lagging 3.3% and truck sales down 3%.

GM said its combined mid-November car and truck sales were up 14.5%, with car sales up 16.9% and truck sales up 10.6%. For the year, GM said car and truck sales lagged 3.6%.

Ford reported car sales up 17.6% and truck sales up 14.6% for a combined 16.3% gain for mid-November. Ford said car and truck sales for the year were trailing last year’s sales by 7.1%.

Chrysler said its car sales rose 10.8% while truck sales edged up 0.5%, an overall 5.4% mid-November rise. For the year, Chrysler reported car and light truck sales trailing by 13.5%.

VEHICLE SALES

Nov. 11-20 % change 1990 year to year GM* 121,718 +14.5 Ford* 87,012 +16.3 Chrysler* 45,227 +5.4 Honda U.S. 11,267 +5.2 Isuzu U.S.* 1,136 ** Mazda U.S.* 1,1,862 +90.4 Mitsubishi U.S. 1,383 39.7 Nissan U.S.* 6,108 +8.0 Subaru U.S. 431 ** Toyota U.S. 9,025 +53.4 TOTAL 285,169 +14.9

*Includes light truck sales.

**No comparison possible.

There were 8 selling days in the selling period this year and last year.