• by Karl Greenberg , November 3, 2010

Tuesday was no glitch -- the positive new-car and truck sales numbers rolling in for October were not limited to a handful of companies. As automakers in M.C. (Motor City), the O.C., the T.C. (Tennessee, for Nissan fans), and D.C. (VW's not exactly in the nation's capitol, but close) begin posting sales numbers for the prior month, it seems that everyone has something to be happy about. The only company to see sales drop was Toyota, which has been hampered by recalls, the most recent one happening smack dab in the middle of the month.  

The company's October sales were 145,474 units, a decrease of about 1% from the same period last year. Toyota division sales were off 2.8% with the division's passenger car sales down 16.6% versus last October. Toyota's luxury division, Lexus, did better -- selling 21,091 vehicles last month, a 12.2% improvement over last October.

The company was also hurt by weaker hybrid sales, as consumers look to save money and gas prices have dropped from historic highs last year. Hybrid sales are down 12% for the company.

General Motors said sales of Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles are up 13% versus the month last year. But the better comparison is going to be versus September -- as last year, October sales were like a vacant room after the rummage sale of "Cash for Clunkers." Compared to September, GM brands sold 8% more vehicles last month. Through the first 10 months of the year, according to GM, the four brands have increased 22%.

The biggest sales growth for the company came from crossovers like Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Terrain and Cadillac SRX, sales of which were up 58% versus the month last year, with Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Chevrolet Traverse seeing 16% higher sales.

Ford Motor posted a 19% improvement in sales to 157,935 units last month. The automaker says it has sold 1.6 million vehicles through October, or 21% more than in the first ten months last year. The company says if sales keep pace, it will gain market share for the second year in a row, which Ford says it has not done since 1993.

Ford has also been gaining share in small cars. The company sold 3,846 of its new Fiesta last month, and the automaker says about 62% of buyers come from other brands. Ford's share of the small-car market grew 50% in October based on Fiesta and Focus combined share versus a year ago. The automaker's Fusion sedan made record sales last month of 17,362 vehicles delivered -- a 29% increase -- and the company says it sold 23% more Ford Focus vehicles last month.

October was the seventh consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases for Chrysler's Jeep, Dodge, Ram Truck and Chrysler brands. The company says Jeep sales increased 111% last month with the new Jeep Grand Cherokee increasing by 291%. Sales of Wrangler increased 49%. Ram Truck posted a 37% increase. Dodge-branded vehicles increased only 3% in October, and Chrysler sales were up 29%.

Honda and Nissan also had gains last month. Nissan saw a 16.1% improvement, with its Nissan division enjoying a 15.2% rise in sales for the month and with sales of the Altima sedan the second-best in the car's history. Sales of the luxury brand Infiniti improved 22.9% over the year before. For the calendar year-to-date, Nissan North America sales are up 16.1%. Honda posted nearly a 20% increase in sales for the month with year-to-date sales up 5.1%. Its Acura sibling improved by 17.1% over last year and 25.3% for the first ten months versus the period last year.

Volkswagen of America posted a 17.9% increase over prior-year sales with the new Jetta, in its first month of sales tallying 5,464 deliveries, which VW says is the best non-Cash for Clunker sales month for Jetta since 2005.

Volkswagen's TDI diesel vehicles accounted for 5,093 deliveries, or 25% of Volkswagen's total volume.