(October 3, 2011) While the industry focus is on building small cars, it was strong demand for large pickups and crossover vehicles that lifted September new-verhicle sales to a 10 percent gain over September 2010, according to manufacturers' sales figures released today.

Ford said its September sales climbed 9 percent, with strong demand for SUVs and trucks offsetting a 9 percent drop in car sales. Continued strong demand for the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain crossovers helped GM last month. Equinox sales are now up 46 percent this year, and Terrain demand has jumped nearly 60 percent.

Chrysler was boosted by strong deliveries of the Ram pickup, Dodge Durango SUV and Jeep lineup. GM, like Chrysler, also benefited from strong pickup demand, with sales of the Chevrolet Silverado up 36 percent and GMC Sierra sales up 26 percent.

General Motors was up 20 percent over September 2010 and is up 16 percent for the first nine months of the year. Chrysler was up 27 percent month over month and is up 23 percent for the Year. Ford showed a 9 percent gain in September and is up 9 percent for the year.

Toyota and Honda continued to struggle to regain sales footing following the devastating earthquake in March. Honda showed signs of recovery with September sales that lagged September 2010 by just 8 percent, but Toyota was still off double digits with sales down 18 percent from a year ago. Honda is off 6 percent for the year and Toyota is down 9 percent.

Nissan and Hyundai enjoyed big September gains. Nissan was up 25 percent over September 2010 and is up 15 percent for the year. South Korea's Hyundai Group, which includes Kia, was up 14 percent month over month and is up 27 percent for the year.

Other big gainers include Volkswagen, up 36 percent in September and 22 percent for the year; and Mazda, up 37 percent in September and 10 percent for the year.

At Ford, the Escape, America’s best-selling utility, set a September sales record with 20,225 vehicles sold, up 41 percent versus a year ago. Escape has set monthly sales records seven out of nine months this year. Year to date, Escape sales totaled 187,850, up 32 percent.

Explorer sales in September totaled 11,336, up 204 percent versus a year ago. Through September, Explorer sales totaled 96,957, representing a 126 percent increase versus 2010.

At General Motors, the compact Chevrolet Cruze continued its sales success with 18,097 units sold in September. Its full-year sales now stand at 212,019.

At Chrysler, Ram pickup sales were up 45 percent. Ram had its best sales month of the year and best September sales since 2007.

Sources: Auto manufacturers, Automotive News