Heavy Sales for Light Trucks; GM Posts Gain

Auto makers reported an unexpectedly strong double-digit gain in January U.S. sales as General Motors Corp. said Wednesday its sales rose 3.3% despite a rare decline in light-truck numbers.

Overall light-vehicle sales last month totaled 1,094,189, up 11.6% on a daily selling rate basis from the 1,019,801 recorded in the same month last year.

Last month also was the second time ever that light trucks--pickup trucks, minivans and sport-utility vehicles--outsold cars, winning by a margin of 1,131 vehicles. The first time was in November. Truck sales rose 15.3% to 547,660, edging car sales that rose 8.1% to 546,529.

“This industry is surprising everyone,” said GM chief forecaster Michael DiGiovanni. “It’s hard at this point to see that momentum slowing down.”

The industry’s seasonally adjusted selling rate in January was 15.66 million compared with 14.44 million last year and 17.31 million in December. The January results get 1999 off to a good start even after several years of industry sales above 15 million thanks to what industry officials say are strong underlying economic fundamentals.

The overall industry results included for the first time sales for Daewoo Motor Co., which refused to release numbers. Industry research firm Autodata Corp. estimated the South Korean auto maker’s sales last month were 500. Daewoo began selling a small number of cars late last year.

GM’s results came in at the bottom end of what analysts had expected, rising on a daily selling rate basis to 306,556 units. In the same month last year, which had 26 selling days compared with 25 this year, GM sold 308,780 vehicles.

On Tuesday, Ford Motor Co. said its U.S. sales rose 8.9% to a January record, thanks to a nearly 22% gain in light-truck sales, and overall sales increased 8%. DaimlerChrysler said its sales, excluding Mercedes, rose 18.7%, also a monthly record.

GM, the world’s largest auto maker, said car sales reached 164,196, an increase of 10.3%, excluding Saab numbers. GM owns 50% of Saab. Light-truck sales fell 3.8% to 142,360.

Sales of GM’s seven new mid-sized cars jumped 36% over the vehicles they replaced.

Mid-sized cars as a group rose 26%.

The auto maker blamed the truck decline on record year-ago results and an aggressive push in December. Despite tight inventories, the company said its new Chevrolet Silverado full-size pickup truck rose 6.6% to 41,621. Overall GM full-size pickup trucks rose 3%.

However, GM’s popular Blazer and Tahoe sport-utility vehicles fell 17.6% and 22.6%, respectively.

U.S. sales of cars and light trucks totaled 15.59 million units last year, the highest total since a record 16.1 million units in 1986.