DETROIT (Reuters) � Auto sales slipped in September from August, initial data from major carmakers showed, adding to evidence that the market remains stuck in a slow-motion recovery at the start of the fourth quarter.
Ford Motor Co (F.N) was the standout in a still-slack market, posting a sales gain of more than 2 percent in September from the previous month.
Sales for General Motors Co (GM.UL) were down 6 percent, while Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) was off 3 percent.
Chrysler, now operating under the management of Fiat SpA (FIA.MI), was up less than 1 percent. Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) was down less than 1 percent.
All of the automakers posted double-digit sales increases from the unusually weak results of September 2009, when inventories were depleted by the expiration of the government's cash-for-clunkers sales incentives and buyers were scarce.
Automakers said results pointed to a continuing but slow recovery with consumers still too concerned about housing prices and employment prospects to begin buying vehicles at anything near the historical rate for the U.S. market.
"Consumers are sending a very clear message that they will be cautious with their spending," GM sales chief Don Johnson told reporters and analysts.
GM's sales were up almost 11 percent in September from a year earlier, the smallest year-on-year gain among major automakers.
Sales for its rivals were all higher: Toyota (+17 percent), Nissan (+35 percent), Ford (+46 percent) and Chrysler (+61 percent).
"The economy does remain hampered by the negative mix of jobs, housing and credit and it's really that troika of challenges which we think will improve gradually," said Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, Ford's chief economist.
The initial sales results pointed to an annualized, industrywide sales rate for September of somewhere between 11.7 million and 11.9 million vehicles, up slightly from near 11.5 million in August because of a statistical adjustment.
On a simple basis, the number of vehicles sold in the United States appeared to have fallen to about 980,000 vehicles in September compared with more than 997,000 in August.
Despite that pullback, Nissan said it saw hopeful signs in easier credit terms for car buyers with subprime credit ratings and better showroom traffic.
"Consumer confidence -- even though it has had peaks and valleys this year -- overall it has increased," said Nissan brand chief Al Castignetti.
GM SEES GAINS DESPITE SLOW MARKET
The sales results were one of the last snapshots of demand that investors will see for GM before an initial public offering expected next month.
Johnson said the automaker was heading into the fourth quarter with a much higher share of new models than it had held a year earlier, reducing the pressure for incentives.
GM spent about $3,300 in incentives per vehicle on average to close sales in September. That represented a discount of about 10.7 percent of the average cost -- in line with the industry's average.
Johnson said GM would remain disciplined in pricing and avoid the temptation to rely on more aggressive discounts to drive sales volumes.
"It's the economic recovery that has to drive our sales," he said. "Is it slower than everyone would like? Potentially," Johnson said.
GM was restructured in a bankruptcy funded by the Obama administration and the government is counting on an IPO to reduce its nearly 61 percent stake in the automaker.
Industry-wide sales for September face an unusually easy comparison to 2009 when the auto sales rate was an anemic 9.2 million vehicles.
That exceptionally weak sales rate represented what analysts called a "hangover" from the expiration of the U.S. government's popular cash-for-clunkers sales incentives a month earlier.
For that reason, many analysts will look at the comparison between September and August sales rates for a better sense of the trend.
(Reporting by Bernie Woodall and Kevin Krolicki, editing by Matthew Lewis)
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