DETROIT (AP) – Nissan and its Infiniti luxury brand reported that sales rose 3 percent last month, an early sign that May sales could beat analysts’ expectations of only a tiny gain.
Nissan says it sold just over 137,000 vehicles led by the Rogue small SUV with nearly a 19 percent increase. Car sales fell 10 percent but truck and SUVs rose 18.5 percent.
Analysts expect U.S. sales to eke out a small gain in May, the first monthly increase of the year. LMC Automotive and J.D. Power predict a 0.5 percent increase to just over 1.5 million vehicles, while Kelley Blue Book predicted a 0.2 percent increase. Most automakers report May sales Thursday.
From January through April, sales fell 2.4 percent compared with last year despite increasingly good deals offered by automakers.