(November 2, 2013) The Detroit 3 led all automakers in what proved to be a good sales month in October. Asian and European automakers also showed gains compared to October 2012 with one exception — Volkswagen declined 9 percent and is now down 2 percent for the first 10 months of the year.

General Motors' sales grew 16 percent compared to last year with all four of its brands posting double-digit increases. Buick led the way with a 31 percent gain. GMC was up 16 percent, Chevrolet 15 percent and Cadillac 10 percent.

Ford reported a 14 percent gain over October 2012, its best October performance since 2004. "October was simply an outstanding retail performance, as consumers continued to choose Ford for great fuel efficiency, styling and value at all levels of the market," said John Felice, Ford's newly appointed vice president of U.S. marketing, sales and service. "The combination of great new products, such as Fusion and Escape, along with the strength of our dealers helped us achieve our best October retail sales month since 2004."

The Fusion and Fiesta set October records with 21,740 and 4,337 sales respectively. Ford's F-Series pickup recorded sales of 60,000 for the sixth month in a row.

Chrysler sales were up 11 percent led by the Ram brand which showed a 22 percent gain. Dodge was up 12 percent and Jeep 6 percent. "After a choppy start to the beginning of the month, Chrysler Group sales accelerated in the second half of the month with renewed consumer confidence and the launch of our all-new Jeep Cherokee," said Reid Bigland, Chrysler's head of U.S. sales. "Following a meticulous focus on quality, our new Jeep Cherokee began shipping to dealers and quickly selling which helped us to achieve our 43rd-consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases."

Although Toyota reported a monthly gain in sales of 9 percent, it likely lost market share with 168,976 units sold. The biggest gainers for Toyota were the Avalon and RAV4 crossover. Three of Toyota's biggest nameplates — Camry, Yaris and Prius — showed declines.

Nissan showed a 14 percent gain with demand for SUVs and crossovers strong. Sales of the Pathfinder were up 90 percent and the Frontier pickup was up 72 percent. Sales of the mid-sized Altima sedan were off 12 percent.

Honda sales rose 7 percent with its two biggest nameplates headed in different directions. While the Accord fell 11 percent, the compact Civic was up 32 percent with sales of 27,328.

Mercedes-Benz, the top selling luxury nameplate in the U.S. through the first 10 months, saw a 37 percent surge in sales compared to October 2012. It outsold the BMW brand by 2,460 vehicles. The S Class had the most dramatic gain in sales at 75 percent. The E Class was up 23 percent.

Of the smaller automakers, Subaru showed the biggest gain at 32 percent. With two months left in the year, the Japanese company is already at a sales record for the U.S. with 347,890 units sold.

Sources: Auto manufacturers, Automotive News