(September 1, 2016) Most automobile manufacturers posted sales declines in August compared to August 2015 in a rare down month for the industry. Ford and Nissan posted their biggest U.S. sales declines of the year. Ford dropped by 8.8 percent, while Nissan recorded its sharpest monthly decline in more than three years. Sales at General Motors and Toyota dropped for the sixth time in 2016.

The seasonally adjusted annualized sales rate for August is forecast to fall to a healthy 17.2 million, from 17.79 million in August 2015 and 17.86 million in July, according to the Bloomberg survey of analysts. GM today estimated the August SAAR at 17.2 million.

Ford's sales fell to 213,411 with retail volume off 8 percent and fleet shipments dropping 10 percent. A 7 percent rise at Lincoln offset some of the decline at the bigger Ford division.

“Strong sales of high-end Lincoln vehicles and Ford SUVs ... helped us continue outpacing the industry in average transaction pricing, which increased $1,200 versus a year ago,” said Mark LaNeve, Ford vice president, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service. “Vans continue to be a bright spot for Ford — a consistent growth story for us this year.”

GM said August sales dropped 5.2 percent to 256,429 cars and light trucks. Deliveries slipped 3.9 percent at Chevrolet, 14 percent at GMC and 2.7 percent at Buick. Sales rose 3.9 percent at Cadillac.

“Despite tighter dealer inventories, we had a solid retail performance in August led by Chevrolet, which gained retail share in eight different segments,” said Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president of Sales Operations. “Our retail strength is reflected in our record ATPs in August, which were up more than $1,600 from last month and nearly $5,800 above the industry average while our incentive spending was below the industry average and well below our domestic competitors.”

At Toyota, volume dropped 5 percent to 213,125 cars and light trucks last month. Honda deliveries dipped 3.8 percent. Nissan posted a 6.5 percent decline in August U.S. sales, with demand falling 6.9 percent at the Nissan division and 1.8 percent at Infiniti.

It was only the second time this year that deliveries at the Nissan group, one of the hottest automakers in the U.S. this year, with sales up 7.3 percent through July, have dropped.

Nissan last recorded a tumble as steep as August’s in February 2013.

Sources: Automotive News, manufacturers