Rebates Help Boost Sales at Chrysler, Toyota and Nissan

Hefty discounts to move out 1998 models helped Chrysler Corp., Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Corp. post higher U.S. sales in August, according to figures released by auto makers Tuesday.

Honda Motor Co. was a major exception to the upward trend.

Chrysler said its sales rose 4% from a year ago, better than analysts expected. Its car sales were up 17%, due to rebates of $1,000 and $1,500 on its mid-size cars and strong sales of its new generation of full-size sedans.

The No. 3 domestic auto maker’s sales of light trucks were down just over 1%, despite a 12% increase in sales of sport-utility vehicles.

Toyota posted its best August and its second-best sales of any month, with an 11% gain over the year-ago level. August also marked Toyota’s sixth consecutive month of total sales over 100,000 units, another company record.

The auto maker got help from its Lexus luxury division, which set a record for any month thanks to strong sales of its new RX300 sport-utility vehicle.

Lexus also was poised to outsell luxury brands Cadillac, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz and BMW for the second consecutive month. Lexus did that for the first time in July, when sales at segment-leader Cadillac were severely depressed by the strikes against parent General Motors Corp. GM and Ford Motor Co. are scheduled to release their figures Thursday.

Rebates also helped Nissan post a second consecutive month of increased sales. The auto maker offered rebates of $2,000 on every 1998 model it sold last month, giving it a 3% gain. It was also helped by its luxury division, Infiniti, which had its best sales month since it was created in 1989.

Honda’s U.S. sales fell 3% below the record it set in August 1997, even though it doubled sales of its CR-V and Passport sport-utility vehicles.

Honda blamed the drop on low inventories of its biggest seller, the Accord sedan. Accord sales fell 14%.