(November 2, 2017) October sales figures released Wednesday showed that Ford, Nissan, Honda, Volkswagen, Toyota and Subaru all showed higher sales compared to October 2016. Fiat Chrysler, General Motors and Hyundai-Kia declined. Overall, sales slipped slightly from October 2016, but it was the second strongest selling rate of the year.

Strong truck sales boosted Ford, Nissan and Toyota. Ford said its truck sales increased 11 percent, and SUV volume rose 5.3 percent. F-Series sales were strongest in 13 years. Strong truck and crossover sales helped Nissan to an 8.4 percent gain over last year, which was an October record. Toyota reported a 19 percent surge in light truck sales resulting in an overall gain of 1.1 percent.

While General Motors showed a solid 8.6 percent increase in pickup sales and an 8.3 jump in crossover sales, the company's overall sales slipped 2.2 percent from October 2016 because of a decline in car sales.

Specifically, the Chevy Silverado was up 6.8 percent and the Sierra joined a big 26 percent jump. Leading the crossover charged at GM were the Chevy Equinox, up 29 percent; and the Buick Encore, up 25 percent. Also showing increases were the Chevy Traverse, GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave.

The crossover/truck trend was reversed at Honda where strong car sales led the way. Sales rose 1.2 percent overall led by the Civic and the just-released all-new Accord.

Volkswagen sales were up 12 percent on the strength of its new crossover lineup that includes the Atlas. Subaru narrowly extended its streak of monthly sales gains showing a 0.5 percent rise with its best October ever.

A reduction of 43 percent in fleet sales and slumping Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge, Ram and Fiat brands led to a 13 percent overall decline at Fiat Chrysler. Hyundai-Kia sales were off 15 percent. The bright spots for the South Korean company were the Tucson and Santa Fe crossovers, up 8 percent and 15 percent respectively.