Nissan Motor Co. recorded a 6.2 percent surge in U.S. car and truck sales in January while volume fell at the Detroit 3 and Toyota amid forecasts for a sluggish start to the new year across the industry.
Behind higher discounts and record crossover, truck and SUV demand, volume rose 3.6 percent at the Nissan division and 36 percent at Infiniti.
U.S. sales dropped 3.8 percent at General Motors in January after two consecutive months of 10 percent gains. Volume fell 1.9 percent at Chevrolet, 28 percent at Buick, 4.1 percent at Cadillac, but deliveries rose 1.1 percent at GMC.
At Ford Motor Co., sales fell 0.7 percent last month behind a drop of 1.8 percent at the Ford division. Deliveries surged 22 percent at Lincoln. Toyota Motor Corp. said volume dropped 11 percent, with deliveries off 9.2 percent at the Toyota division and slumping 26 percent at Lexus.
Deliveries at Jeep, one of the hottest brands in recent years, also fell for the fifth consecutive month. Only two FCA brands — Ram, up 5 percent, and Alfa Romeo, up 59 percent — posted gains for the month, Automotive News reports.
Nissan posted the biggest U.S. sales gain in 2016 — 5.4 percent — of all major automakers, and the company’s January results signal some automakers may still have room to grow in 2017 behind fatter deals. Nissan’s average U.S. incentive rose 24 percent last month to $4,335, according to ALG.
