DETROIT (AP) — Ford Motor Co. says its U.S. sales were flat in September as increases in sales of cars and SUVs were weighed down by lower truck sales.
Ford's truck sales fell 7.6 percent, largely because of the discontinuation of the Ranger small pickup. The Ranger was a strong seller last September. Sales of the F-Series large pickup were up 1 percent over last year.
Ford said sales of SUVs were up 8.7 percent. The new Ford Escape small SUV saw a 14.5 percent jump and the Explorer large SUV was up 19 percent.
Car sales were up 1.6 percent, led by strong sales of the Ford Focus. Sales of the outgoing Fusion midsize sedan dropped 37 percent as Ford began shipping a new version of the Fusion to dealerships.
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors says its U.S. sales rose 1.5 percent last month as a big jump in car sales was offset by falling truck sales.
The company says new models boosted car sales by 29 percent. But sales of the Chevrolet Silverado, GM's top-selling vehicle, fell almost 17 percent from a year ago.
Still, GM says last month was its best September since 2008.
The company expects total U.S. auto sales to hit an annual rate of 14.5 million for September. That would make it the second-best month of the year.
GM sold more than 210,000 vehicles in September. It was led by the Chevrolet Cruze compact car with a 43 percent increase. Chevrolet Sonic subcompact sales were five times September of last year.
All automakers report U.S. sales on Tuesday.
