According to an Automotive News report, U.S. sales at Toyota Motor Corp., Hyundai, Kia and Subaru rose in September as the auto industry’s inventory woes continue to ease, though growing economic challenges threaten what is supposed to be a more robust second-half rebound as the industry enters the fourth quarter. Sales fell 8.9% at Ford Motor Co., even as inventories grew, behind an 18% drop in truck volume and flat utility sales.
Third-quarter volume surged at General Motors but slid at Stellantis and Nissan Motor Co.
GM’s third-quarter sales, helped by higher inventory, jumped 25 percent, with volume rising 30 percent at Chevrolet, 24 percent at GMC and 50 percent at Cadillac. Only Buick posted lower sales during the period, with volume down 27 percent. In addition to strong retail demand for SUVs, crossovers and pickup trucks, GM said fleet deliveries rose 66 percent in the latest quarter.
GM closed the third quarter with 359,292 vehicles in dealer stockpiles, including vehicles in transit, an increase of 111,453 from the second quarter, and nearly three times the inventory recorded at the end of 2021’s third quarter.
Toyota Motor posted its first increase in monthly sales since July 2021, with volume last month rising 17 percent, with a 21 percent gain at the Toyota division eclipsing a 4.3 percent decline at Lexus. While the Toyota brand snapped a 13-month losing streak, Lexus sales have now droppd 8 straight months year over year.
Still, Toyota’s third-quarter U.S. sales slipped 7.1 percent to 526,017, making GM the top seller in the period and year-to-date by healthy margins.
Read the full Automotive News report.
Source: https://rvbusiness.com/ford-slips-in-september-gm-surges-in-q3-in-performance-reports/
