Sturdy Sales Gains in November: Ice Breaking with Consumers?

Sturdy Sales Gains in November: Ice Breaking with Consumers?

As automakers began to report the results of November sales today, firm double-digit gains for most in what historically is one of the year's weakest sales months could indicate the standoff with consumers and the still-wavering economy could be easing.

General Motors Co. reported a sales gain of 11 percent, and 20 percent when accounting only for the four brands - Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC - it has retained. Sales continued on an upward trend for all of the brands, with Buick leading the way with a 36-percent improvement compared with last November.

Sales at surging Ford Motor Co. jumped 20 percent, fueled by a balanced showroom assault from each of Ford's major vehicle ranges, cars, pickups and utility vehicles. Ford truck sales were up 34 percent for the month and sales of the best-selling F-Series lineup, at 473,461, already have exceeded 2009's full-year sales by almost 60,000 units and the Fusion midsize sedan set a new full-year sales record with 196,590 sales through November.

November was good to Nissan North America Inc., where sales improved 27 percent to 71,366 units. Compact vehicles came out strong for Nissan, with the Versa up 21 percent and setting a new record for the month and the Rogue compact crossover bolting to a 67-percent gain and its own new sales record for the month.

Chrysler Group LLC rung up a 17-percent sales gain compared with last November, led by a soaring 256-percent rise for the Jeep Grand Cherokee, which is completely redesigned for 2011. Not to be outdone, the Ram pickup line was up by 86 percent and several models from each of Chrysler's sales divisions pulled ahead to positive year-to-date overall sales.

At Volkswagen of America Inc., November sales improved by 24 percent. The new 2011 version of the brand's best-selling Jetta accounted for more than half of the brand's total sales, with 11,153 units sold in November, a 40-percent rise. Sales of the redesigned 2011 Touareg jumped 109 percent to 837 units.

Other notable early-reporting companies recording sales gains for November include Mercedes-Benz at 13 percent - the best November since 2007, according to the company - Porsche, with a 49-percent sales jump and a 22-percent improvement for Subaru, whose 20,792 total sales amounted to a record November for the company, which also eclipsed its record for total U.S. sales, reaching 237,126 in November, compared with Subaru's best-ever U.S. sales year of 216,652 last year.

Photo of 2012 Buick Regal GS by GM

Bill Visnic:  is an AutoObserver Senior Editor. Follow @AutoObserver on Twitter