U.S.-Built Car, Truck Sales Up 20.5% in Mid-November : Autos: Incentives by Ford and GM to lure pickup buyers help push light-truck figure up 26%.

Sales of U.S.-built cars and light trucks rose 20.5% in mid-November, boosted by incentives offered by Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. as they battle for the title of best-selling pickup.

Sales were strong for both cars and light trucks, up 16.4% and 26%, respectively, between Nov. 11 and Nov. 20, according to figures reported by auto makers Wednesday.

“It’s been like doing business in the 1970s. The marketplace seems to be pretty good,” said Tom Gill, an Oldsmobile and GMC Truck dealer in Columbus, Ohio.

Sales of cars and light trucks are running 11.9% ahead of last year. Overall sales, including imports, are up about 8%. Several Japanese auto makers have shifted production of popular models to the United States, lifting domestic sales at the expense of imports.

“The comparisons are against a weak year-ago period, but the size and breadth of the increases are quite encouraging,” said Tom Webb, chief economist for the National Automobile Dealers Assn. “With domestic production accounting for a growing share of these sales, it’s doubly good news for the economy.”

Many analysts expect that when final numbers for 1993 are tallied in early January, the U.S. market will post total sales of about 14.1 million new vehicles, including imports and heavy-duty trucks.

“Full-year 1993 vehicle sales will be up nearly a million units from 1992, and we look for at least another half-million-unit gain in 1994,” Webb said.

In mid-November, domestic cars sold at an annualized rate of 7 million. Domestic light trucks--including pickups, minivans and sport utility vehicles--sold at an annualized rate of 5.7 million, for a total annualized rate of 12.7 million units.

Over the last 30 days, domestically built cars and trucks have sold at an annualized rate of 7 million, and light trucks have sold at an annualized rate of 5.4 million, for a total domestic sales rate of 12.4 million vehicles.

Dealers reported steady showroom traffic in the middle of the month. Low inventories at some GM dealerships led customers to order from display models and others to shop elsewhere.

GM is still experiencing spot shortages of 1994 vehicles due to start-up production problems.

“I’m working out of the smallest inventory I’ve had in a couple of years,” said Gill, the Olds and GMC dealer. “It’s something that concerns me.”

Though GM is trying to recoup up to half the 70,000 vehicles lost from third-quarter production, Mike Losh, vice president of sales and marketing, said recently that the shortfall is a “net loss” from which GM won’t recover.

GM is also nearing full capacity for light-truck production. Plants that assemble the most popular GM trucks are running at full tilt plus overtime.

Meanwhile, Ford, which has had the best-selling full-size pickup truck for 16 years, widened its lead over Chevrolet in the pickup sales battle. Ford sold 19,150 F-Series pickups in mid-November, compared to 16,528 C-K pickups for Chevy.

Ford has been paying dealers $2,000 for each full-size pickup they register, even if the dealership buys the truck itself for use as a rental vehicle. It is also offering a 24-month lease with monthly payments of $229 after a $1,500 down payment. Chevrolet matched the lease program but said it doesn’t have the inventory to keep up with Ford in a numbers game.