The pace of U.S. sales growth continues to flatten, as automakers have been reporting slackening sales in the waning months of 2016.
DETROIT -- The pace of U.S. sales growth continues to flatten, as automakers have been reporting slackening sales in the final months of 2016.
Both General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles reported declines for October. Ford Motor Co.'s sales report has been delayed because of a fire at the company's headquarters Monday.
GM's total sales dipped 2 percent on an annual basis to 258,626 units last month. Its retail sales were up 3 percent to 208,290 units, but declining fleet sales pulled down the Detroit automaker's total.
Sales for the Chevrolet brand dipped 1 percent to 181,964 units, the GMC brand's sales were off 6 percent to 42,668 units and Cadillac's sales fell 9 percent to 13,948 units.
Only the Buick brand posted a rise, with sales climbing 7 percent to 20,046 units.
FCA's total new car and truck sales in the U.S. were down 10 percent from October 2015 to 176,609 units.
Its Jeep brand, which has been red hot in the past couple of years, posted a 7 percent decline to 68,826 units.
The Chrysler brand's sales plummeted 45 percent to 14,818 units, Dodge's sales were off 16 percent to 41,514 units and sales of Fiat-brand cars dropped 24 percent to 2,622 units.
Sales of Ram trucks rose 12 percent to 49,443 units.
Analysts with Kelley Blue Book put the seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales, or SAAR, for the month at about 17.7 million units.
While last month's totals were down from a year ago, October 2015 was one of the highest sales months in the history of the industry, said Karl Brauer, senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book. There were also two fewer selling days in October 2016, and an East Coast hurricane hit sales in that region of the U.S., he added.
"Bottom line, the new-car selling rate remained at 17.7 million vehicles in spite of these headwinds," Brauer said. "If this is what a 'down' market looks, like I'm betting most automakers will gladly take it."