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Business Title: Ford, GM, Chrysler Beat Sept. Sales Estimates Chrysler Group LLC, driven by boosted deliveries of Ram pickups, led September U.S. auto sales gains that exceeded analysts’ estimates. General Motors Co. (GM) and Ford Motor Co. (F) also beat estimates on Silverado and F-Series trucks. Chrysler sales climbed 27 percent to 127,334, according to a regulatory filing, beating seven analysts’ average estimate for a 20 percent increase. GM deliveries rose 20 percent to 207,145 cars and light trucks, and Ford sales increased 9 percent to 174,860, the companies said in separate statements. September light-vehicle sales, being released today, probably rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 12.8 million, the average estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. That would be the fastest pace since April, when lost output caused by Japan’s tsunami crimped supply of parts and finished cars. “Significant gains in pickups suggests that there is pent- up demand in the small business- and work-truck area of the business,” Alan Baum, an industry consultant at Baum & Associates in West Bloomfield, Michigan, said in a phone interview. “The automotive factors are more important than the economic factors. The long-term demand remains.” Deliveries by Chrysler, the U.S. automaker controlled by Fiat SpA (F), were boosted by a 45 percent increase in Ram pickup sales. Deliveries of the new Durango sport-utility vehicle rose to 4,923 from 47 a year earlier, the Auburn Hills, Michigan- based company said in the filing. GM deliveries were expected to increase 19 percent, the average of eight analysts’ estimates. Chevrolet Silverado sales surged 36 percent to 43,698, and GMC Sierra trucks gained 26 percent to 13,904, the Detroit-based company said today in a statement. Ford’s light-vehicle sales, were projected to rise 5.9 percent, the average of eight analysts’ estimates. Sales of F- Series pickups rose 15 percent, the Dearborn, Michigan-based company said in a statement. Pickups and SUVs accounted for 72 percent of Ford’s sales in September, up from 66 percent a year earlier. Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) and Honda Motor Co.’s return to full production last month may have boosted U.S. auto sales back near the pace reached before the March earthquake. The sales rate averaged 13.1 million in the year’s first four months before falling to as low as 11.6 million in June, according to researcher Autodata Corp. Nissan Motor Co., whose better supply of parts has buoyed inventory levels above its Japan-based rivals, reported a 25 percent gain for September, better than the 18 percent average of five analysts’ estimates. The company said its Nissan-brand cars rose a combined 32 percent. Volkswagen AG (VOW)’s namesake brand sales climbed 36 percent to 27,036, according to an e-mailed statement. Deliveries of the Jetta compact sedan surged 40 percent to 15,023, said Volkswagen, whose U.S. unit is based in Herndon, Virginia. GM’s full-size pickup inventory slid to 208,650, from 212,520 a month earlier. Supply of the trucks dropped to 88 days from 107 days at the end of August on a selling-day adjusted basis, the company said. GM reiterated that it is targeting year-end inventory of about 200,000 full-size pickups. “GM had really overproduced on Silverado pickups in particular and have been trying to figure out a way to sell them,” Jeremy Anwyl, chief executive officer of auto researcher Edmunds.com, said in a phone interview. “Usually we have a summer sell down in July. It didn’t start until Labor Day weekend. People who were waiting for deals kept waiting until September.” Toyota, ramping up production of the redesigned Camry sedan, may say sales dropped 15 percent, the average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The Toyota City, Japan- based automaker’s global production increased for the first time in 12 months in August. Sales may have declined 6.1 percent at Honda, the average of five analysts’ estimates, after deliveries slid 20 percent or more in each of the previous four months. The Tokyo-based automaker is scheduling overtime shifts at its Marysville and East Liberty assembly plants in Ohio, Ron Lietzke, a spokesman, said in a Sept. 28 phone interview. With vehicle production and inventory recovering for Toyota and Honda, the fourth quarter may be the year’s strongest for auto sales, Al Castignetti, Nissan’s vice president of U.S. sales, said in a phone interview. “Inventory levels for all manufacturers are going to get back to normal, and people who have been sitting on the fence are likely to get back in the market,” he said. “If we have another month like September, I’d say all bets are off.” Confidence among U.S. consumers stagnated in September near a two-year low as the share of households saying it was difficult to find a job climbed to the highest level in almost three decades. The Conference Board’s sentiment index increased by 0.2 to 45.4 from an August reading that was the lowest since April 2009, the New York-based researcher said Sept. 27. “The economy is stopped dead in its tracks,” George Magliano, a New York-based economist at IHS Automotive, said in a phone interview last week. “Considering that, the auto business is showing pretty good strength. The industry is hiring, it’s producing more and there’s pent-up demand.” GM and Ford are anticipating that demand will keep increasing as the largest U.S. automakers negotiate labor contracts that boost production and add jobs. GM reached a new four-year contract with the United Auto Workers last month. The automaker and union said the accord adds or retains 6,400 jobs and reopens an assembly plant in Tennessee. Ford has discussed with the UAW adding as many as 10,000 union jobs in the U.S., according to three people familiar with the talks. Some of those workers would assemble Fusion sedans, which are currently made in Mexico, said one of the people who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are private. The UAW has asked local union leaders from Ford factories throughout the U.S. to gather in Detroit tomorrow, said Michele Martin, a spokeswoman for the union. GM sees the industry selling rate exceeding 13.2 million in September including medium- and heavy-duty trucks, said Don Johnson, vice president of U.S. sales. The industry is seeing a “steady but moderate release of pent-up demand,” Johnson said. “We think the country will see slow growth in 2012 but not a recession.” GM fell 11 cents to $20.07 at 12:57 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Ford slid 9 cents to $9.58. Hyundai Motor Co. (005380), South Korea’s largest automaker, and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. (000270), may have combined to sell 20 percent more vehicles than a year earlier, according to the average of three estimates. Both automakers are based in Seoul.
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