Auto Market Turns for Worse With Lowest Sales Rate in 18 Months
- Fiat Chrysler deliveries drop for the first time in a year
- Ford, Toyota, Honda, Nissan also fall short of expectations
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It’s been a cruel winter for auto sales, as slowing deliveries of even once-hot sport utility vehicles signal the rapid onset of a widely expected downturn in U.S. new-car demand.
Even Jeep, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s star SUV brand, suffered a second consecutive monthly decline, driving the carmaker to its first total sales retreat in a year. At Ford Motor Co., sales fell 4.4 percent, worse than analysts projected, due in part to a drop-off in sales of its top seller, the F-Series, according to a person familiar with the results.