DETROIT �� Sales of new cars and trucks probably fell about 6.7 percent in October even though the overall health of the industry remains strong.
How can both be true?
"First, October of 2015 was one of the highest sales months in the history of the industry, so being 'down' compared to last year was almost inevitable," said Kelley Blue Book analyst Karl Brauer. "Second, there were two fewer selling days in October 2016 vs. 2015, along with an East Coast hurricane impacting sales in that region."
Industry analysts predict that the industry remains on track to sell about 17.4 million new cars and trucks this year _ a number that would be the second-most in the history of the U.S. auto industry.
Five things stood out as as individual automakers reported sales:
��Honda sold nearly 5,000 more trucks than cars. The company sold 65,569 "trucks" in October compared with 60,592 cars. Here, we are using the catchall industry lingo for "trucks," which includes SUVs and vehicles such as the Honda Ridgeline, Pilot and CRV and even the Odyssey minivan.
Honda's ratio of trucks to cars is yet another piece of data that shows how much consumer preferences have changed from cars to crossovers and SUVs.
���Sales of the Ram brand increased 12 percent in October, making it one of the few bright spots for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
FCA's truck brand was the only one that reported a U.S. sales gain in October. Ram's strong performance was expected, but still revealing.
Ram's October sales gain comes after Ram outselling Silverado for the first time in at least five years. Ram achieved that in September with big incentives that topped $7,000. FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne said last month that the automaker planned to continue to keep pressure on the industry with Ram incentives.
The automaker is offering up to 20 percent off some Ram 1500 models. Ram was unable to top Silverado in October. FCA sold 43,891 Ram pickups, or 7 percent more than the same month last year.
��Big, full-size SUVs like the Chevrolet Suburban, Chevrolet Tahoe and Yukon helped to power GM to better-than-expected results. Sales of those big, body-on-frame brutes increased 85 percent, 81 percent and 61 percent respectively.
Meanwhile, at Buick, sales of the Encore rose 8 percent and the brand sold more than 2,300 new Envision SUVs while sales of all of Buick's cars fell.
GM's U.S. sales fell 1.7 percent in October, less than the expected 6.7 percent decline for the industry.
��The fallout from Volkswagen's diesel scandal continues. German automaker Volkswagen Group's namesake brand continued its prolonged sales slump as the company tries to overcome a diesel emissions scandal and an outdated product lineup that have kept shoppers away from the showroom. VW brand sales reversed 18.5 percent to 24,779 units.
"Volkswagen has to reinvent itself," said Michelle Krebs, senior analyst for AutoTrader.com. "It was the diesel brand. What is it going to be now?"
��The pace of auto industry sales continues to keep the auto industry hovering above the danger zone. Average industry incentives are increasing, and are at record highs, but the average transaction prices of new cars and trucks also are at record levels.
GM said its average transaction price in October was $36,155, or $1,000 more than a year ago.
Kelley Blue Book estimates that the average purchase price for a new vehicle in October was $34,663 _ a 2.3 percent increase compared with October 2015. That means automakers are still pulling in profits and the industry remains healthy.
Still, the industry is watching these numbers carefully. If interest rates or fuel prices rise, industry trends could change quickly.
