top us automakers reported another month of rises in sales of sports utility vehicles and pickup trucks on thursday as american consumers continued to shun sedans and hatchbacks the countrys no 2 producer ford motor co reported a 67 percent rise in suv sales to 67554 units in october while smaller rival fiat chrysler automobiles nv saw overall sales rise 16 percent on higher demand for its jeep and ram vehicles us car sales which dropped 2 percent last year from a record high of 1755 million in 2016 are expected to fall further in 2018 hurt by rising interest rates and the return of more latemodel used cars to dealer lots advt but automakers have been helped by a shift by us consumers away from traditional passenger cars towards larger more comfortable suvs and trucks which tend to be more profitable for producers sport utility vehicles contributed about 35 percent of fords total us sales volumes in october up from 316 percent a year ago ford which is also gradually phasing out production of most passenger cars in the united states said total sales fell 39 percent to 192616 vehicles hurt by lower passenger car demand japans toyota motor corp separately said its us sales rose about 14 percent to 191102 units due to increased demand for highlander and tacoma suvs reuters published on nov 2 2018 at 0141 pm ist telegram facebook copy link be the first one to comment comment now comments comment now read comment 1 all comments post post find this comment offensive choose your reason below and click on the submit button this will alert our moderators to take actions reasons for reporting foul language defamatory inciting hatred against a certain community out of context spam others report join the community of 2m industry professionals subscribe to our newsletter to get latest insights analysis download etauto app get realtime updates save your favourite articles scan to download app us auto sales in october october 2018 sales chrysler fiat automobiles toyota tacoma ford motor company homenewsindustryus auto sales rise as suvs trucks dominate