CHICAGO, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- General Motors and Ford Motor Company announced on Tuesday increased car sales last month in U.S. market while Fiat Chrysler fell short of expectations.
General Motors reported a 12 percent year-over-year increase in total sales in September to 279,397 units, driven by a 17 percent increase at Chevrolet and an 9 percent increase at GMC.
GM's crossover deliveries were up 43 percent, trucks were up 10 percent and passenger cars were down 11 percent.
Retail deliveries, which accounted for about 80 percent of sales, were up 8 percent for GM's best September retail performance since 2007.
Commercial and Government deliveries were up 25 percent and 38 percent, respectively. GM has gained U.S. Commercial market share for 14 consecutive months.
Ford Motor Company reported that its U.S. sales increased 8.7 percent in September.
Ford retail sales totaled 169,544 vehicles, up 4.4 percent compared to a year ago, while fleet sales totaled 52,704 vehicles, representing a 25.1 percent increase versus 2016.
Meanwhile, Fiat Chrysler U.S. reported sales of 174,266 units, a 10 percent decrease compared with sales in September 2016.
Although its retail sales of 146,904 units were up 0.3 percent compared with the same month in 2016 and represented 84 percent of total sales, the fleet sales of 27,362 units were down 41 percent year on year.
The largest reduction in September fleet sales came from the Jeep brand, by 67 percent year over year. Fleet sales represented 16 percent of total FCA US September sales.
Fiat Chrysler U.S. maintained that the results were in line with its strategy to reduce sales to the daily rental segment.
GM Chief Economist Mustafa Mohatarem said all the key U.S. economic indicators point toward continued economic growth and stability.
In addition, regions devastated by the recent hurricanes will continue to recover, helping spur new and used vehicle sales.
