DETROIT —Falling gas prices improved buyers’ moods and boosted sales of sport utility vehicles and trucks in October.
GM, Toyota, Chrysler, Nissan, Volkswagen and Honda all reported sales gains last month. Of major automakers, only Ford and Hyundai saw declines.
Industry sales rose 6 percent over last October, according to Autodata Corp.
The national average price of gasoline fell 33 cents to end October at $3 a gallon, according to AAA. Gasoline is now the cheapest it has been in four years, and the decline accelerated a trend toward SUVs and trucks that has been going on all year.
“Gas prices coming down added a little bit of fuel to the fire, but that fire was already roaring,” said Kelley Blue Book senior analyst Alec Gutierrez.
Small SUVs have been the fastest growing segment in the U.S. this year, and now make up one out of every four vehicles sold, says Jesse Toprak, the chief sales analyst for the car buying site .
Gas prices also convinced small-business owners to go ahead and buy pickup trucks, Toprak said. GMC Sierra sales jumped 12.5 percent in October. Ram pickup sales were up 33 percent.
