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Nissan on Monday said its U.S. sales rose 7
percent to 117,318 vehicles, and that 2014 sales of 1.39 million
vehicles were a company record.
However, while Honda's U.S. sales rose 1.5 percent to 137,281
vehicles, that was well short of analysts' expectations of about
143,000 vehicles.
Sales of Nissan's top-seller, the Altima sedan, rose 30 percent
in December.
Nissan and Honda were the first major auto companies to report
U.S. December sales.
A Reuters poll of 11 analysts showed expectations of a 10.5
percent gain for all U.S. new-vehicle sales over last December.
Low gasoline prices helped boost pickup truck and large SUV
sales in the month, analysts said.
And a separate poll of 35 economists polled by Thomson Reuters
showed that they expect on average an annualized selling rate
for December of 16.9 million vehicles, the highest for the month
since before the 2008-2009 industry downturn.
Each month, auto sales are an early indicator of consumer
spending.
(Reporting by Bernie Woodall Editing W Simon)
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