A man looks under the hood of a car for sale at a dealership in Torrance, California.  Automakers posted strong US sales in August, with crossover vehicles and pickups continuing to see robust demand.

Bloomberg/Michigan

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Ford Motor reporting surprising sales increases in what’s shaping up as a strong month for the industry.
Ford’s light-vehicle deliveries increased 5.6% and Fiat Chrysler’s rose 1.7%. Both were projected to report decreases. General Motors sales fell less than analysts had anticipated and the Detroit-based automaker boosted its outlook for full-year US deliveries.
Fiat Chrysler’s North American unit sold 201,672 vehicles in the US last month, the second time this year that the group topped 200,000. Analysts had predicted a 1.2% decline, the average of eight estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Projections ranged from a drop of 3.7% to an increase of 0.8%. Eight models, including four Jeeps, had their best August ever.
“In spite of a tough 2014 comparison and extreme stock market volatility, our dealer’s competitive spirit kicked in and propelled us to our 65th consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases,” Reid Bigland, head of sales for the unit formerly known as Chrysler, said in a statement yesterday.
Chrysler exited bankruptcy in 2009 with a new leader and sales momentum that hasn’t let up for more than five years. Deliveries of Ram pickups and Jeep sport utility vehicles helped sustain the streak in August, even as Labour Day weekend sales were pushed into September. Analysts estimated that Ford’s sales declined 0.2%
All major automakers were projected to report declines for August. The industry was projected to post a 3.3% decline in August deliveries of cars and light trucks to about 1.53mn, the average of five analyst estimates in a Bloomberg survey. There were 26 selling days last month, one fewer than in August 2014.
A messy calendar and a choppy stretch on stock markets won’t alter what’s been driving auto sales in 2015 to the highest levels in at least a decade, said Karl Brauer, senior analyst at Irvine, California-based Kelley Blue Book. Unemployment is down, as are interest rates and fuel prices. The average of 12 analyst estimates is for a 17.3mn light-vehicle selling rate, adjusted for seasonal trends, for August, the same as a year earlier.
Fiat Chrysler forecast a 17.8mn selling pace for the month, including medium and heavy trucks that typically account for at least 200,000 deliveries. GM estimated the rate would be 17.5mn.
“All the fundamentals that drive vehicle purchases are still relatively strong if not exceptionally strong,” Brauer said. “Nothing’s changed. The calendar can swing sales one direction based on a holiday. Last year August looked great and September got short shrift and this year August is taking the hit.”
Consumers typically flock to dealer lots on Labour Day weekend, the traditional end of summer, as the model year is changing over. They’re drawn by new designs or discounts on outgoing vehicles. Last year, the weekend made up a fifth of August’s sales, according to JD Power. That surge led to the most sales in any August since 2003, TrueCar said.
Since Chrysler’s bankruptcy, Bigland has benefited from a growing US market that rebounded from 10.4mn vehicles sold in 2009 to an almost 17mn pace this year. At the same time, chief executive officer Sergio Marchionne has expanded the Jeep lineup, split off Ram trucks as its own brand, added Fiat and Maserati to the family and improved the car lineup with the Dodge Dart and Chrysler 200.
“FCA accomplished something that nobody would have predicted a few years ago - to have five-plus years of sales increases - even in an accelerating market,” Brauer said. “It’s an impressive feat and reflects very well on Sergio.”
Toyota Motor Corp may have led the August decliners, with analysts estimating a 10% drop, followed by Volkswagen’s VW and Audi brands, which may see a combined 7.5% decrease, and a 7% projected slide for Honda Motor.
Deliveries for Detroit-based GM, reducing sales to rental-car companies 38% in August, slipped 0.7%, narrower than the 2.6% fall projected by analysts. Sales of GM’s Chevrolet Silverado pickup rose 12% while GMC Sierra pickup deliveries increased 7%.
Ford sold 71,332 F-Series pickups last month, an improvement of 4.7% from a year earlier and the first time the truck line, featuring an aluminium-bodied F-150, crested 70,000 in a month this year. The Dearborn, Michigan-based company is offering 72-month, no-interest loans on Ford brand vehicles.
Ford’s car sales dropped 7%, led by a 37% drop-off in the C-Max hybrid and a 26% decline in the Focus compact. Sport-utility vehicle sales rose 12%, led by a 79% gain in the big Lincoln Navigator and a 36% rise in Edge deliveries.
One possible deterrent for shoppers could be the turbulent stock markets. When consumers feel their savings are at risk, they often pull back on large and discretionary purchases. So far, that hasn’t been the case, said analysts such as Jeff Schuster of LMC Automotive.
“The current stock-market volatility does not seem to be having much of a negative impact on consumers as the selling rate remains well above 17mn units,” he said in an e- mail. “Upside potential for the US auto market is gaining momentum, as it now looks unlikely there will be an interest rate increase in September, and a delay in rising rates will most certainly assist in keeping growth on track.”
Analysts were much more focused on how the calendar would influence the month’s results.
This is the first time since 2012 that Labour Day weekend sales will be counted for September, JD Power said. This year, the holiday falls on September 7. Last year, it was on September 1.
This August wasn’t Fiat Chrysler’s first close call. The company reported gains of 1.7% for March 2015 and 0.7% for September 2013, when the average estimate was for a 2.8% decline.
Shares in the Italian-American automaker, which is based in London, rose 22% this year through on Monday, more than any US automaker, including Tesla Motors, which gained 12%.
The company’s Auburn Hills, Michigan-based FCA US unit remains the most dependent on truck sales of any full-line automaker in the US market, which has worked well in 2015. The parent company raised its full-year earnings forecast in July on the strength of the Jeep brand.
“Our trucks and Jeeps are selling well, but it has been difficult selling the car lines — and we have cash-back on them,” said Jim Hardick, managing partner of Moritz Dealerships, which owns Chevrolet, Kia and Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram outlets in Fort Worth, Texas.