Nissan Sales to Fall 9%

Year over year, the increase totals 1.6%, but compared with October 2014, sales are lower by 1.3%. There were 26 selling days in November 2013, compared with 25 this year, and October 2014 had 27 selling days.

Three carmakers are forecast to have weaker sales in November: Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (down 8.5%), Hyundai/Kia (down 6.6%) and Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F).

Nissan sold 103,000 vehicles in October, and Edmunds.com expects that number to fall to about 97,500. That seems a little odd because in the industry’s hottest selling sector, compact crossover/SUVs, the Rogue is the fourth best-selling vehicle in its class so far this year. But sales peaked in August and have now dropped to a 10-month low. Neither the compact Sentra nor the mid-size Maxima is helping boost numbers.

Hyundai/Kia’s October sales for its compact Elantra were down nearly a third month-over-month and down nearly 10% year-over-year, according to Kelley Blue Book (KBB). The company’s U.S. marketing chief resigned in mid-November. According to Automotive News, Hyundai sales are up 1% this year in a U.S. market that has grown 6%.

Ford’s doldrum days are nearly over — or so the company hopes — with the first deliveries of its all-aluminum F-150 pickup beginning in November. Ford has ceded pickup truck sales to both General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) as it works to clear out inventory of the older F-150 to make way for the new. We are likely to see a few more months of lower (but rising) F-150 sales until the company can get the production lines ramped up to full speed.

A senior analyst at Edmunds.com said:

In recent years both car shoppers and car dealers have turned toward Black Friday as an opportunity to dive into the holiday shopping season. This is a good example of how the auto industry continues to evolve to become more like the rest of the retail market.

That worked for FCA and its Ram pickups and Jeeps this year, and both GM and Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) also posted solid sales gains in November.

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