DETROIT, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- General Motors Corp. U.S. sales edged up last month, while Ford Motor Co., Chrysler LLC and Toyota Motor Corp. recorded losses, the automakers reported.
GM reported September light-vehicle sales rose 0.3 percent from a year earlier, while Ford posted a 21 percent drop, Chrysler turned in a 5.4 percent decline and Toyota said it had a 4.4 percent sales drop.
GM car and light-truck sales stood at 334,974, up from 334,025 a year earlier. Sales of light trucks rose 3.6 percent to 203,603, while car sales fell 4.4 percent to 131,371, the Detroit automaker said.
Third-quarter production dropped 30,000 vehicles, or 3 percent, from a year earlier, to 1.02 million because of last week's two-day United Auto Workers strike, the company said.
Ford's September sales of 189,863 were hurt by a 62 percent drop in fleet sales, the company said. Regular retail sales were down 15 percent, with passenger-car sales dropping 39 percent and truck and sport utility vehicle sales falling 9 percent.
But sales of "crossover" vehicles such as the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX rose 96 percent.
Lincoln vehicle sales overall jumped 33 percent, Ford said.
Toyota said its car and light-truck U.S. sales fell to 213,043 -- the third straight monthly drop.
Chrysler sales of 159,799 vehicles were down from 168,888 a year earlier, with truck sales down 11 percent and passenger-car sales up 19 percent.
