DETROIT_The economy and overall economic conditions remain favorable for the auto industry and automakers are still on track to sell the second most cars and trucks in any year in U.S. history.
If there was any lingering doubt that the pace of U.S. auto sales has plateaued it was erased by results automakers reported Monday for the month of September.
Total U.S. industry sales are heading for about a 1.5 percent decline in September compared with the same month a year ago even though automakers tried to keep the sales momentum going with higher incentives.
Most automakers _ including Ford, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, General Motors and Honda _ either reported a sales decline or sales that were flat compared with the same month last year. A few automakers _ including Toyota and Nissan _ reported a sales increase.
But it's nowhere near time for the industry to panic. Automakers are still on track to sell the second-most amount of cars and trucks in any year in U.S. history.
The multi-year pickup binge appears to be cooling. Sales of the Chevrolet Silverado fell 15.5 percent while sales of the GMC Sierra slipped 8.5 percent and sales of the Ford's F-Series pickups fell 2.6 percent. An exception was FCA's Ram brand, which reported a 27 percent increase in sales in September.
Americans are embracing midsize trucks. Sales were up 41.6 percent for the Chevrolet Colorado, 26.5 percent for the GMC Canyon, up 64.5 percent for the Nissan Frontier and up 35.4 percent for the new Toyota Tacoma. Meanwhile, Honda sold 3,318 new Ridgeline pickups compared with just two Ridgelines last September.
American's love affair with small and midsize SUVs continues and passenger cars continue to struggle. Sales of Ford's cars dropped 20.7 percent in September while sales of the Honda Accord fell 19 percent and sales of the Toyota Camry fell 11 percent.
The entire industry is keeping a cautionary eye on rising incentives and inventory levels. The average industry incentive increased by more than $400 in September compared with the same month a year ago, according to executives at two automakers.
"There was a lot of incentive activity _ very aggressive sales events for the Labor Day period," said Mark LaNeve, Ford's vice president of U.S. marketing and sales. "So the first 10 days of the month were very strong, although the rest of the month was steady as well."
Still, automakers continue to sell cars at higher prices. In September, the average transaction price for a new car or truck was $34,372 _ a 2.5 percent increase compared with last September, according to Kelley Blue Book.
Also, Toyota Vice President Bill Fay said a lot of automakers boosted incentives in September to clear out their 2016 models and make way for the 2017 models.
"This is always a transitional time of the year for us," Fay said. "But it doesn't look like the industry is totally out of line from an inventory standpoint."
Toyota estimates that the U.S. auto industry is on track to sell about 17.3 million new cars and trucks this year. That would be down slightly from 2015, but 2015 was a historic year for the automotive industry.
