(Reuters) - General Motors Co's (GM.N) U.S. sales rose 11 percent overall in November, slightly less than gains projected for the industry amid a slow but steady return in consumer demand from the depressed levels of a year ago.Sales of GM's four core U.S. brands rose 21 percent in November from a year earlier amid higher prices and reduced incentives, GM said in its first sales results since it completed the largest-ever IPO in November.
The U.S. October auto sales rate was 12.2 million, and analysts said it would be encouraging if sales held near that rate in November, traditionally a slow month for the industry.
Ford Motor Co (F.N) said its U.S. sales rose 24 percent in November from a year earlier amid more signs of growth in the U.S. economy and demand for new vehicles. Ford sales exclude the Volvo car unit it sold to China's Geely in August.Economists surveyed by Reuters forecast November auto sales of about 12 million vehicles on the annualized and seasonally adjusted basis tracked by the industry.
Ford left its fourth-quarter production plan intact and announced that first-quarter 2011 production would be up 11 percent from the first three months of 2010.
"We see people showing an increasing willingness to go out into dealerships and into malls," said Jim Bunnell, general manager of GM's U.S. sales operations. "It's not going to happen overnight, but we think through 2011 we're going to see a continued gradual improvement."
GM said it expected the seasonally adjusted annualized rate of sales to be about 12.2 million vehicles in November, in line with the 12.2 million rate in October. GM expects U.S. auto sales to be up 15 percent overall.An annualized rate about equal to October would be encouraging for the traditionally slow month, analysts said.
GM said its core Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac brands were on track to gain market share for the year. Sales of GM's Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave sister crossovers rose a combined 38 percent from a year earlier.
GM said its average transaction prices were up $1,300 in November from a year earlier, while incentives were down. Industrywide incentives were up slightly in November from a year earlier.Toyota is expected to report a 2 percent sales drop in November from a year earlier, according to Edmunds and TrueCar forecasts. This will make Toyota the only major automaker with a decline in that period, despite having increased spending on incentives from a year earlier.
GM's shares were up 1.8 percent at $34.81 on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday afternoon, while Ford shares rose 3 percent to $16.41. The broad S&P 500 index .SPX was up 2.1 percent.
Auto sales for November, one of the first snapshots of consumer behavior at the holiday shopping season, are due to be released on Wednesday.The November sales will be the first for General Motors Co (GM.N) since the Detroit automaker's $23 billion initial public offering of stock.
Barclays expects sales to reach about a 12.1 million vehicle annualized rate, down slightly from October's 12.2 million sales rate, but strong enough to show that "the consumer is crawling back, particularly in the more affluent and higher quality credit segments."
Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) and Ford Motor Co (F.N), are expected to have the biggest sales gains, continuing a trend that has seen the two automakers take share from rivals in 2010.The final weekend of November sales were lifted by Thanksgiving holiday deals sponsored by individual dealers and manufacturers, including Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) and Nissan Motor Co (7201.T), analysts said.
Edmunds forecast a GM sales gain of 11.5 percent. TrueCar analyst Jesse Toprak, who sees GM posting a sales gain of about 14 percent, said it was also encouraging that the top U.S. automaker had managed to bring down its incentive spending compared with a year earlier.It illustrates the difficulties Toyota still faces in winning back U.S. consumers, almost a year after starting recalls that rocked its reputation for quality and safety.
The F-Series pickup truck continued to lead Ford sales overall and the Fusion sedan has already set an annual sales record with one month left in the year, Ford said. Sales of the Ford Edge crossover rose 55 percent.
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