DETROIT (AP) – Fiat Chrysler reported that its October U.S. sales rose nearly 15 percent as the auto industry sales boom accelerated last month.
Analysts expect this to be the strongest October since 2001 with overall sales rising more than 11 percent.
Fiat Chrysler was led once again by Jeep SUVs with sales up 33 percent.
The company reported sales of about 196,000 compared with just over 170,000 a year ago. It was Fiat Chrysler’s strongest October in 14 years.
Pickup trucks also drove the sales increase. Fiat Chrysler sold almost 41,000 Rams for a 3 percent gain over last year.
Car buying site TrueCar.com expects sales to rise 11.4 percent to 1.4 million. That would make October the third month with double-digit gains from a year ago, after September and January.
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