General Motors' total vehicle sales dipped 1 percent to 249,795 units. The Detroit automaker's retail sales were flat at 204,449 units.
DETROIT - The Detroit Three automakers posted modest sales declines for new cars and trucks in the U.S. in September, as the industry appears to be reaching a plateau after a record 2015.
Here's a closer look at the performance of General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles US LLC in September:
GM
General Motors' total sales of new vehicles dipped 1 percent to 249,795 units. The Detroit automaker's retail sales were flat at 204,449 units.
The Chevrolet brand's total sales were flat at 170,237 units. The brand's top-selling vehicle - and the best-seller for GM - the Silverado-C/K pickup, posted a 16 percent drop in sales to 45,380 units. The mid-size Colordao fared better, with a 42 percent jump in sales to 10,383 units.
The Malibu sedan also performed well, with sales up 26 percent to 21,521 units.
GMC's sales fell 9 percent to 43,268 units. The decline was led by a 48 percent drop in sales of the Terrain SUV to 5,656 units. Sales of the Sierra full-size pickup (and close relative to the Silverado) declined 9 percent to 18,068 units, while sales of the Canyon midsize pickup rose 27 percent to 2,949 units.
Buick's sales climbed 14 percent to 20,922 units. The Encore compact SUV led the way, with sales up 30 percent to 7,297 units. That was partially offset by a 16 percent drop for the Enclave to 3,973 units, and by a 51 percent plummet for the LaCrosse to 1,909 units.
Cadillac's sales grew 3 percent to 15,368 units. Sales of the CT6 and of the XT5, which were not available in the year-ago month, totaled 1,343 units and 4,608 units, respectively.
Through the first nine months of 2016, GM's total sales are down 4 percent to 2,212,397 units.
Ford
Ford's sales in fell 6 percent on an annual basis in September to 204,447 units.
Sales of Ford-brand vehicles also declined by 8 percent, to a total of 195,650 units. The drop was led by Ford-brand cars, which decreased 23 percent to 47,092 units.
Virtually every Ford car model fell by double-digits on an annual basis for the month.
Sales of Ford-brand SUVs dipped 3 percent to 62,160 units.
Sales of Ford trucks slid 2 percent to 86,398 units. The high-volume F-Series models dropped 3 percent to 67,809 units on the month.
Lincoln-brand vehicle sales edged up 1 percent to 8,797 units inn September. Sales of Lincoln cars were up 16 percent to 3,461 units, with sales wholly driven by the new Continental, which sold 775 units in September and was not available in the year-ago month. Lincoln-brand SUV sales fell 6 percent to 5,336 units.
Through the first three quarters fo 2016, Ford's total sales are up 1 percent to 1,988,456 units.
FCA US
FCA US LLC's sales slipped 1 percent to 192,883 units.
The Jeep brand, which has been white hot for FCA, posted a 3 percent decrease to 76,331 units. The brand is still up 12 percent through the first nine months of 2016, however. In September, all Jeep models posted double-digit declines except for the Patriot, which jumped 33 percent to 12,316 units, and the Grand Cherokee, which increased 18 percent to 18,507 units.
Sales of Ram trucks grew 27 percent to 51,868 units.
Dodge-brand vehicle sales fell 6 percent to 42,935 units, with the outgoing Dart posting a 63 percent decline to 2,597 units. The Charger and Challenger models both fared well, with sales up 35 percent to 10,056 units and 19 percent to 5,698 units, respectively.
Sales of Chrysler's four model vehicles decreased 27 percent to 18,797 units. Sales of the new Pacifica, totaling 9,172 units, were not enough to offset double-digit declines for Chrysler's 200, 300 and Town & Country models.
Fiat-brand sales were down 30 percent to 2,913 units.
FCA US' year-to-date sales are up 4 percent to 1,714,360 units.
A record 2015
GM estimates the seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales, or SAAR, for 2016 to be about 17.4 million units through September.
Last year, there was a record 17,470,499 million units of new cars and trucks sold in the U.S.