http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/04/business/automakers-report-us-sales-for-october-2014.html 2014-11-03 19:41:49 Chrysler Sales Gains Leave G.M. and Ford Behind Chrysler posted an October sales increase of 22 percent, while Ford was down 1.7 percent and General Motors was essentially flat. === As summer sales events disappeared in the rearview mirror, G.M.'s total sales were essentially flat in October, up 0.2 percent compared with October 2013, the company said Monday. The Detroit automaker, which has been dogged by Cadillac sales were down 8 percent for the month, despite a 49 percent increase for the brand’s CTS sedan. The sedan’s performance was eclipsed by double-digit losses of another Cadillac sedan, the XTS, as well as its SRX sport utility vehicle. And Cadillac’s compact ATS sedan — intended to compete with the BMW 3-series — continued to struggle, down 6.3 percent. G.M.'s usual dominance of the full-size sport utility vehicle segment, which has helped bolster the company all year, faltered in October. The automaker’s large S.U.V.s like the Chevy Suburban and At Ford, October resulted in an overall sales loss of 1.7 percent compared with last year. The Ford brand was down 2.7 percent, though the company’s luxury Lincoln division surged. Sales were up 25 percent, its best October performance in seven years. Lincoln delivered something of a split verdict, though. Its S.U.V.s carried the day, especially sales of the full-size Navigator, which were up 38 percent. But sales of its sedans fell by double digits: the MKS by 43 percent, and the MKZ by 14 percent. Sales of Ford’s F-series pickup trucks were down 0.6 percent in October, which the automaker cited as one of the main drags on companywide performance. “Overall sales declines were expected and tied to the plant changeover for the introduction of the all-new 2015 F-150,” Ford said in a release. The new F-150, built with an aluminum body to save weight and improve fuel-efficiency, is expected to be on sale next month. But if G.M. and Ford were left to explain their wilted October performance, that was not the case with their crosstown rival Chrysler, which continued its streak of robust gains in October, up 22 percent compared with last year. Sales of the company’s Jeep brand was up 52 percent, its best October ever. Ram pickup trucks, also an engine of growth all year, posted 33 percent sales gains for the month, its best October numbers since 2003. Notably, Chrysler Group also had gains for its two Chrysler-branded sedans, the 200 and the 300. The newly redesigned 200 in particular lifted its sales by 40 percent in October. The company’s Dodge brand was the only division with negative figures last month, down 8 percent.