U.S. car and truck sales were up 7.5 percent in October, making it the industry's best month since February.
But the results still fell short of analysts' estimates, and experts warned that gains would be more modest in the months ahead.
Chrysler Group LLC saw the biggest sales gain, up 27 percent year-over-year on the strength of its new and refreshed vehicles. The Auburn Hills automaker sold 114,512 cars and trucks in October, compared to 90,137 for October 2010. That was enough to push Chrysler's market share to 11.2 percent — a gain of nearly two percentage points, according to The Detroit News.
"It was another great month for Chrysler, much of it again on the strength of Jeep," said analyst Michelle Krebs of Edmunds.com, though she noted that Chrysler's Fiat brand continues to struggle. "(The) Fiat 500 still looks to be underperforming expectations, with sales of under 2,000 units last month."
Ford Motor Co. sales were up 6.2 percent, climbing to 167,502 from 157,650 in October 2010. Ford's market share, however, slipped slightly to 16.4 percent from 16.6 percent a year ago.
"The best way October sales could be characterized is solid," said Ford sales analyst Erich Merkle, adding that the company still expects to finish the year strong.
"Ford reported a strong year-over-year growth in pickup trucks," said analyst Himanshu Patel of JPMorgan. "(But) total car sales were down."
October traditionally is a strong truck month for all manufacturers.
General Motors Co. posted the weakest increase of the Detroit Three. Its sales increased from 183,543 to 186,895, a gain of 1.8 percent. GM lost a full point of market share, dropping to 18.3 percent from 19.3 percent a year ago.
More promising was the fact that more than 80 percent of GM's car sales and about 50 percent of its truck and crossover sales were 2012 models.
On the strength of these new models, the automaker was able to cut its average incentive by more $300.
Chrysler, Ford and Nissan Motors Co. all increased their incentives more than the industry average, according to data from the Power Information Network obtained by The Detroit News.
Still, Don Johnson, GM's vice president of U.S. sales, called October a "lumpy month" that saw some products gain ground, while others ceded it to foreign competitors.
"We did see some of the Japanese manufacturers start to regain their footing," he acknowledged during a conference call Tuesday.
The Chevrolet Cruze, which has been the best-selling compact car in the United States since May, returned its crown to Toyota's Corolla.
The über-popular compact has been in short supply — along with other Toyota, Honda and Nissan models — since the March earthquake and tsunami delivered a one-two punch to the Japanese automobile industry. Now, just as the Japanese manufacturers say their inventories are returning to normal, they have been dealt another blow as devastating floods crippled key suppliers in Thailand.
Toyota Motor Corp.'s sales rebounded sharply from September, but they were still off from a year ago. Toyota sold 134,046 cars and trucks last month, compared to 145,474 in October 2010, a decline of 7.9 percent that left it with 13.1 percent of the market.
Toyota executives said they are confident they will be able to reclaim some of that lost share now that vehicle shortages are becoming a thing of the past. To help do that, the automaker is pulling forward its holiday promotions.
"We've gone through a tough six months," said Bob Carter, general manager of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. "The shortages are really behind us."
At least that is the hope. Toyota said flooding has impacted many of its suppliers in Thailand, and the company is curtailing overtime at U.S. factories to conserve parts.
But the impact of the floods is being felt more acutely at Honda Motor Co., which has seen one of its own assembly plants shut down by the disaster.
Honda's sales slipped by half a percent in October, dipping to 98,333 units from 98,811 a year ago. Honda's market share fell from 10.4 percent to 9.6 percent.
Analyst Jessica Caldwell, also of Edmunds, called the Thai floods "a second blow" to Japanese automakers.
"I don't fully think that they're back," she said. "It's still going to be tough for them."
Caldwell said American automakers could soon be impacted, too. GM said it has seen no impact to date, but is surveying its supply base to assess its exposure.
Ford said it does not anticipate any impact on its U.S. production.
Nissan was the only one of the major Japanese automakers to post a sales gain last month. Its October sales were up 18 percent, climbing from 69,773 units to 82,346 to claim 8.1 percent of the market.
South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. posted a 22.8 percent sales increase, while Germany's Volkswagen AG topped the chart with a 35.6 percent gain. Hyundai's market share increased from 4.5 percent to 5.1 percent, while VW's climbed to 3.8 percent from 3 percent a year earlier.
Caldwell said she expects overall sales to continue to rise, but at a slower pace than the industry has seen since the end of summer.
"It seems like things are normalizing a bit," she said, adding that pent-up demand is trumping consumers' fear about the economy.
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