DETROIT — Fans of SUVs and trucks shoved car buyers aside last month, helping the auto industry to its best October in four years.
The shift was a boon for Detroit’s automakers, who posted sizable increases in sales of pickups such as the Ram and Chevy Silverado, big sport utility vehicles such as the Ford Explorer and compact models such as the Ford Escape.
While car sales have lost momentum from earlier in the year, some companies, including Hyundai and Volkswagen, continue to post impressive numbers and steal away their share of small-car sales. Toyota and Honda, for years the category leaders, continue to struggle with shortages related to the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
U.S. car and truck sales rose 8 percent from October 2010 to 1.02 million, making this the best October since 2007 — before the recession hit. Sales are tracking at a pace similar to the start of this year, before Japan’s disasters cut off supplies, according to Autodata. Analysts expect them to stay at that pace into 2012.
“The economy isn’t expected to pick up significantly, and I think that’s going to hold us in this pattern of slow growth, stability to slow growth,” said Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting for LMC Automotive.
Pent-up demand helped October sales. Inventories of Japanese cars are getting close to normal, so car shoppers who spent the summer waiting for them to reappear on dealer lots could finally buy them in October.
But Toyota sales fell 8 percent. Bob Carter, Toyota’s U.S. sales chief, said the company still expects to post year-over-year sales gains before the end of 2011.
