Ford, Chrysler sales top targets

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Ford Motor reported surprisingly strong sales for October, compared with very weak results a year earlier, while Chrysler sales slipped less than forecast. GM came in close to, but a touch short of, expectations.

Ford (Charts), the nation's No. 2 automaker, said U.S. sales jumped 8.1 percent from a year earlier to 215,985, about twice the gain forecast by sales tracker Edmunds.com, which had predicted a 4.1 percent rise.

Sales of its all-important light truck models, such as pickups and SUVs, were essentially flat, rising only 0.9 percent. But car sales jumped 22 percent.

Chrysler, the North American unit of DaimlerChrysler (Charts), saw U.S. sales fall 3 percent to 159,586. Edmunds had forecast a 6.5 percent drop. A 12 percent U.S. sales gain at the luxury Mercedes Benz brand in the month limited DaimlerChrysler's overall decline to 2 percent.

GM (down $0.35 to $34.57, Charts), the nation's No. 1, carmaker said sales jumped 17.3 percent from a year earlier to 297,401.

Sales of cars edged up 2 percent over last year because the company reported them as a gain based on the daily sales rate. In real numbers car sales ticked down 2 percent. Light trucks, a key area for GM, grew 33 percent.

A year ago General Motors, Ford and Chrysler saw October sales slump after an "employee pricing" sales promotion had cleared out 2005 models in preceding months, leaving dealers with relatively few vehicles to sell amid soft demand. But Chrysler had relatively stronger sales in the year-earlier period, making comparisons more difficult.

In comparison to a more typical October of two years ago, GM saw overall sales slip 13 percent, while light trucks declined 10 percent in real numbers from the 2004 sales level.

In the past few months Ford and Chrysler have announced deep cuts in fourth-quarter production, particularly in their pickup truck models, owing to excess inventory. Both companies reported third-quarter losses on their North American auto operations.

Toyota Motor Corp (Charts). on Wednesday posted a 9.2 percent gain in October U.S. vehicle sales compared with a year earlier, only half the gain projected by Edmunds.com after adjusting for the number of sales days in the month.

But the sales of 189,011 cars and trucks were enough to give the company its best U.S. sales for an October, putting it about 5 percent ahead of DaimlerChrysler for the No. 3 spot in U.S. auto sales.

Ford's student driver takes the wheel