U.S. Car Sales Growth Stalls

Sales of new passenger vehicles in the U.S. slipped by 6,500 units to about 1.39 million units last month, Automotive News calculates.

The adjusted annual selling rate for the month was 17.6 million, the second-strongest of the year.

AN estimates that sales by General Motors Co., which no longer reports monthly results, rose 1% to 248,700 units. But results were mixed among mass-market manufacturers.

November sales were led by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which posted a 17% gain to 181,300 units on strong demand for its pickup trucks and SUV/crossovers. Sales advanced 1% to 102,600 vehicles for Hyundai/Kia and surged 10% to 56,800 units for Subaru.

But monthly deliveries fell 7% to 195,300 vehicles for Ford. Volumes also shrank for Toyota (-1% to 190,400 units), Honda (-10% to 120,500) and Nissan (-19% the 110,500).

Among luxury marques, November’s gainers include BMW (+1% to 28,300 units), Tesla (an estimated +417% to 21,700), Acura (+11% to 14,100), Infiniti (+8% to 14,100) and Jaguar Land Rover (+19% to 11,700).

Monthly deliveries fell for Mercedes-Benz (-4% to 32,900 units) and Audi (-11% to 17,100).

Sales volume in the U.S. through the first 11 months of 2018 totaled 15.70 million units compared with 15.63 million in the same period last year, according to AN.