Automakers report bumper US October sales

Shoppers flocked to US car dealerships in October with most automakers reporting strong sales gains from a year ago on Tuesday.

With most of their 2016 models out on the lots, General Motors, Ford and the US arm of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, FCA US, all said they had their best October in 11 years, while Toyota, number three in US sales, registered an all-time record for the month.

Sport utility vehicles and crossovers continued to lead the way, from Toyota's entry-level RAV4 to Cadillac's pricy Escalade and SRX SUVs.

"October was a huge month for the industry, smashing expectations and continuing its hot streak," said Bill Fay, Toyota group vice president.

Even sales at Volkswagen, its reputation hit hard by the emissions scandal focused on its diesel cars, were expected to be reasonably good when they are released later in the day, according to industry analysts Edmunds.com.

Edmunds says Volkswagen group sales will likely gain about 5.1 percent, with the Audi mark driving the growth while VW brand sales flatten out.

"In this year of booming auto sales, no automaker should be relieved to see flat year-over-year performance, but this may be the best that Volkswagen can hope for this month," said Edmunds senior analyst Jessica Caldwell.

GM, the US market leader, said sales came in just shy of 263,000 cars and trucks in the month, up 15.9 percent from October 2014. Sales of Silverado pickups, Chevrolet Equinox and the lower-priced Malibu sedan were strongest.

GM's Cadillac luxury sedans continued to suffer, but SUVs kept the division growing.

"The redesign of our full-size trucks and SUVs, and our move into the small crossover and mid-size pickup segments were smart bets and our timing couldn't be better with industry sales at record levels," said Kurt McNeil, GM's US vice president of sales operations.

Ford sales rose 13.4 percent year on year, helped by strong gains in the compact Focus and the full-sized Explorer SUV.

Sales of Ford's industry-leading F series pickup trucks though grew only a modest 3.3 percent, and for the 10 months of the year were only 1.5 percent higher, as the company promotes its lighter, more fuel-efficient aluminum-bodied F-150 against a market awash in cheap gasoline.

Toyota meanwhile held onto third place in the market ahead of FCA US. The world's largest automaker topped 200,000 units led by the RAV4 and Toyota Highlander SUVs.

FCA US's Jeep division sales, with the hit Cherokee SUV, led the way for the company's 14.7 percent year-on-year gain, with 195,545 vehicles sold last month. Jeep division sales jumped 33 percent from a year ago as they continue to anchor total sales for Italian parent Fiat Chrysler.

Edmunds was predicting a total of 1.42 million cars and trucks sold in the US market for October, up 11.5 percent year on year and putting the industry at a hot annual pace of 17.8 million units.