Baltimore-area auto dealers reported mixed September sales.
Ford was the only domestic automaker to report a jump in sales with September sales up 4.6 percent from a year ago. Ford?s car sales jumped 5 percent but truck sales fell 5 percent.
Ford announced Wednesday that most of its 2006 model-year trucks are available with zero-percent loans for 60 months.
Chrysler?s September sales dropped 3.8 percent, but sales of DaimlerChrysler?s Mercedes Benz brand were up 13.2 percent. Both Ford and Chrysler have announced zero-percent financing on many of their 2006 models to help boost sales.
General Motors sales fell 3.1 percent, which the company blamed on a decision to sell fewer vehicles to rental car fleets, which tend to be less profitable for the automaker.
Foreign automakers reported record-breaking sales for September, led by Toyota Motor, which reported sales jumped 25 percent, making it the best September sales month in Toyota?s history.
Toyota reported car sales jumped 18.4 percent in September while truck sales leaped 34.9 percent from a year ago. Honda sales fell 4.1 percent, but the Japanese automaker reported a record September for truck sales.
“While crossovers, hybrids and small cars continue to show strength, our SUVs and full-size trucks also posted solid gains,” Jim Lentz, executive vice president of Toyota Motor Sales, said in a statement.
“We had a really good month at our Toyota store,” said Susan Shirlig, advertising director for Russel Automotive in Baltimore County.
“Car and trucks sales were really strong,” Shirlig said.
Thus far, Toyota is ahead of DaimlerChrysler in U.S. sales. Toyota has sold 1.9 million vehicles since January 2006 compared to sales of 1.8 million for DaimlerChrysler, making Toyota the No. 3 biggest-selling automaker behind GM and Ford.
