September Auto Sales Show Slight Dip
The slowdown in auto sales we've been hearing about seems to be showing up in the September auto sales numbers. After six straight years of growth, U.S. sales of lightweight vehicles dipped slightly in September by six-tenths of one percent from a year ago. Top selling GM (GM) - Get Report said sales fell more than a half a percent as pickup sales fell by double digits. Ford (F) - Get Report saw an eight percent drop and Chrysler (FCA) - Get Report was down one percent. Japanese automakers fared a bit better with Toyota's (TM) - Get Report sales up 1.5 percent and Nissan gaining five percent. The silver lining for carmakers? Average selling prices were up 2.5 percent despite an uptick in incentives. There's speculation that incentives may rise amid a slowdown but a GM spokesman speaking to Reuters says they're not getting into a discount war. In fact, executives at both Toyota and GM told the media company that record sales for this year are still within reach, bucking analysts' forecasts.
This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.
