Black Friday deals helped lift US auto sales in November

This Tuesday, June 28, 2016, photo, shows the front of a 2016 Nissan Altima at a Nissan dealer, in Miami.

Auto makers reported us sales on track for a record November as Black Friday deals, steep incentives and consumer confidence drew more vehicle shoppers into showrooms.

That observation has been echoed by market experts, who see auto sales on track to complete the year at or near in 2015’s 17.5 m before possibly losing some of that momentum next year or in 2018.

Hefty discounts helped boost November U.S. auto sales 3.7 percent, automakers reported on Thursday, putting the industry within reach of the annual sales record set in 2015. Explorer sales rose 13.9% for the month but are down 4% year to date. According to Kelley Blue Book’s estimates, Fiat Chrysler was the only automaker expected to report lower monthly sales.

With SUVs and full-size trucks rolling off the lots so quickly, Ford’s overall transaction prices shot up $1,000 higher than in the prior November.

“I still think we’re in a plateau”, Mr. Jackson said this week.

General Motors was gaining 5.52 percent to $36.44.

The Ford brand was down 3.9% on a daily-sales basis for the month while Lincoln continued to buck a flat premium segment with a 9.6% daily-sales increase in November. Even Volkswagen, which has struggled all year because of its diesel cheating scandal, saw sales rise 24 per cent.

However, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (NYSE: FCAU), which completes the Big Three, saw a 14 percent decline in sales to 187,731 units in November.

As sales move sideways there will be intense competition between large automakers to keep their sales numbers ticking.

Higher incentives enticed buyers who sat out much of the fall.

Automakers and dealers drew from a grab bag of holiday-season tricks to sustain sales. Black Friday promotions paid off by driving consumers to showrooms to cap the month. Since 2013, sales during the weekend after Thanksgiving have been almost double the sales during a typical November weekend, according to auto shopping site Edmunds.com. Numerous automakers’ deals pegged to Black Friday actually ran all through November and some stick around the rest of the year.

Consumers also had a newfound confidence after the tumultuous election.

Annualized November U.S. sales were 17.87 million vehicles, down from 18.25 million a year earlier, industry consultant Autodata Corp said. That’s a crucial factor for purchasing big-ticket items.

GM sold 252,644 autos in November, a more than 10% increase, above Edmunds’ forecast for 248,600. All of the brand’s SUV models posted double-digit sales gains, with the sole exception of the Terrain. But its ATP, which reflects retail transaction prices after incentives, was a healthy $35,767. Spearheading the performance was a 7.9 percent rise in sales of the Honda division, which helped to offset a 5.1 percent drop in Acura sales. Ford’s sales increased 5.1% with its Lincoln brand rising an impressive 19.1%.

Ford’s light-vehicle sales in the month rose 5.1 per cent to 196,441, far better than the 0.5 per cent gain projected by analysts in a Bloomberg survey. Dodge sales fell by 2 percent.

J.D. Power and LMC Automotive expected sales during Thanksgiving weekend – one of the busiest selling periods of the year – will have accounted for one-fourth of November sales. Meanwhile, trucks and sport-utility vehicles are going strong, and they carried the industry to stronger results last month.

Toyota also benefited from the SUV boom with Highlander sales soaring 67 percent. Inc.’s holdings in Ford Motor were worth $1,827,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.