Monthly sales: no October surprise

September's sales pace continues.

Our expectations were set pretty low by analysts' projections for fourth-quarter sales. So far, they appear to be accurate. Well, with one exception.

[NOTES: We are no longer using Automotive News as a source for Tesla delivery estimates. We will report Tesla's quarterly numbers directly in our YTD figures and provide our own estimates for monthly sales and YTD figures in the intervening months.

General Motors no longer reports sales figures monthly.]

FCA appears to be unstoppable. After a gangbuster September, the folks in Auburn Hills are at it again. If you've been tracking Jeep sales this year, you're aware of how close the company is to clearing the one-million-unit mark for the first time in its history. At its current pace, it appears Jeep will fall just shy of that milestone, but 2018 will still likely be the brand's best sales year ever.

The industry as a whole seems to be sticking to its September pace, for better or for worse. Ford, Honda and Toyota remained relatively stagnant, though several truck and SUV models continue to post record months. Some are even posting record years with two months still to go.

Even Audi isn't immune to 2018's fickle rhythms. After a nine-year run, the luxury Volkswagen subsidiary's growth streak has officially ended.

October 2018

• Acura up 7.3%, 13,624
• Alfa up 44%, 1,737
• Audi down 17%, 16,056
• Bentley down 12.2%, 165
• BMW flat, 23,262
• **Buick
• **Cadillac
• **Chevrolet
• Chrysler up 21%, 13,289
• Dodge up 38%, 33,872
• Fiat down 35%, 1,151
• Ford down 3.4%, 185,042
• Genesis down 79%, 372
• **GMC
• Honda down 5.3%, 108,558
• Hyundai up 2.8%, 52,653
• Infiniti up 15.4%, 11,880
• Jaguar down 8.4%, 2,684
• Jeep up 9%, 72,800
• Kia up 1.6%, 45,102
• *Lamborghini up 2.2%, 94
• Land Rover up 43.3%, 7,846
• Lexus down 0.8%, 22,716
• Lincoln down 15%, 7,574
• *Maserati down 16.7%, 950
• Mazda down 10.3%, 18,673
• **Mercedes-Benz down 4.9%, 27,537
• MINI down 13.7%, 3,166
• Mitsubishi up 8.4%, 8,002
• Nissan down 13%, 98,082
• Porsche up 2.2%, 4,817
• Ram up 14%, 54,542
• smart down 32.1%, 55
• Subaru up 2.5%, 55,394
• †Tesla up 350%, 29,000
• Toyota up 1.7%, 191,102
• Volkswagen up 5%, 29,000
• Volvo up 4.6%, 7,327

2018 YTD

• Acura up 1%, 128,107
• Alfa up 133%, 19,917
• Audi up 1.7%, 183,476
• Bentley down 11.7%, 1,642
• BMW up 2%, 248,327
• **Buick
• **Cadillac
• **Chevrolet
• Chrysler down 9%, 140,445
• Dodge up 1%, 393,600
• Fiat down 43%, 13,235
• Ford down 2.2%, 1,997,387
• Genesis down 45%, 9,281
• **GMC
• Honda down 2.5%, 1,201,072
• Hyundai flat, 545,445
• Infiniti down 5.5%, 117,129
• Jaguar down 28.1%, 23,824
• Jeep up 19%, 818,994
• Kia down 1%, 497,144
• *Lamborghini up 3.2%, 940
• Land Rover up 21.7%, 72,979
• Lexus down 2.6%, 236,340
• Lincoln down 9.6%, 82,854
• *Maserati down 15.9%, 9,363
• Mazda up 8%, 232,538
• **Mercedes-Benz down 6.7%, 252,921
• MINI down 2.9%, 37,359
• Mitsubishi up 17.1%, 101,400
• Nissan down 6.5%, 1,117,515
• Porsche up 3.2%, 47,443
• Ram up 1%, 471,203
• smart down 62%, 1,054
• Subaru up 4.9%, 558,812
• †Tesla up 224%, 184,220
• Toyota flat, 1,778,999
• Volkswagen up 5%, 295,228
• Volvo up 5%, 345,253

*Automotive News estimate

†Leftlane estimate

**GM no longer reports monthly sales figures

***Excludes Mercedes-Benz Vans

All figures represent direct year-to-year volume changes, not adjusted for selling days.