By Bernie Woodall
DETROIT (Reuters) - U.S. auto sales rose last month on strength in sport utility vehicles and marketing promotions, while industry sales were forecast topping 18 million vehicles on an annualized basis, which would be the strongest November ever.
General Motors Co (N:GM) said on Tuesday the U.S. auto industry will sell 18.2 million vehicles for the month at an annualized rate. Most analysts predicted 2015 sales will top the record of 17.35 million vehicles in 2000, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
End-of-year holiday promotions were pushed into November as automakers emphasized Black Friday deals tied to the Thanksgiving U.S. holiday, said Jessica Caldwell of Edmunds.com.
Consumers were attracted by such promotions as zero percent financing, even as incentives were not greatly increased.
"Incentives were strong for the Black Friday weekend but I think it was more of the messaging than substance. Still, it looks like consumers took the deals," said Jeff Schuster, forecaster for LMC Automotive.
GM's sales rose 1.5 percent. GM, like most automakers, showed gains for SUVs but losses for sedan sales.
Full-size pickup truck sales, combining the Chevrolet Silverado and the GM Sierra, fell 6.2 percent, while sales of the Ford Motor Co (N:F) F-Series pickups jumped 10 percent to 65,192.
Fiat Chrysler (N:FCAU) Automobiles (N:FCAU) (MI:FCHA) said its Ram pickup sales were up 2 percent.
Ford ended a sales promotion offering employee pricing, but analysts said the deal confused consumers who wanted more traditional promotions. Ford introduced a new holiday program offering $1,000 cash and zero-percent financing for five years. Ford sales rose 0.4 percent for the month.
Ford said it expects continued strong pickup sales overall despite a drop in the Dallas area, compared to increases in other major metropolitan areas.
Volkswagen AG's (DE:VOWG_p) U.S. sales in November fell 25 percent as it coped with a scandal over diesel emissions cheating.
Last November, VW sold 5,462 diesel-powered models, but it has stopped selling them due to the emissions scandal. Before the scandal began in September, 21 percent of its U.S. sales in 2015 were cars with diesel engines.
In a sign of a strong market for small SUVs, known as crossovers, Nissan Motor Co Ltd's (T:7201) Rogue outsold the Altima sedan for November. Rogue sales rose 50 percent.
Fiat Chrysler stretched its streak of consecutive months of year-over-year sales gains to 68 as its SUV brand Jeep showed sales up 20 percent.