Foreign automakers post fat November sales gains

With U.S. stocks trading at record highs, low gasoline prices fueling big-car purchases and Black Friday luring in shoppers, foreign automakers enjoyed a strong month in the showroom.

Japanese automakers Toyota Motor, Nissan Group and Honda Motor posted U.S. sales increases of 4.3%, 7.5% and 6.5%, compared with a year earlier. Toyota sold 197,645 vehicles, while Nissan sold 115,136 and Honda sold 122,924.

German automaker Volkswagen's namesake brand broke a losing streak tied to its emissions scandal, posting a 24.2% increase. Its luxury brand Audi was up 2.5%.

“We expect to see the industry set a new sales record for November,” said Bill Fay, group vice president and general manager of the Toyota brand, in a statement.

A record November could keep the industry in the mix for possibly breaking the full-year sales record set in 2015 at 17.47 million vehicles.

Analysts at Edmunds.com and Kelley Blue Book had projected Toyota November sales increases of 4.4% and 2.9%, respectively. They predicted Nissan increases of 4% and 8.3% and Honda increases of 8.4% and 9.1%.

It was a much better month for Toyota, Nissan and Honda than it was for their luxury brands. Toyota's namesake brand recorded a 5.3% increase, while its Lexus luxury brand declined 1%. Nissan's namesake brand rose 8%, while its Infiniti luxury brand rose 3.4%. Honda's flagship brand rose 7.9%, while its Acura luxury brand fell 5.1%.

The industrywide demise of cars and rise of crossovers, pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles continued for foreign automakers in November. Nissan's crossovers, trucks and SUVs were up 22.2% for the month, but cars fell 5.5%. For Toyota's flagship brand, car sales declined 6.2%, but the rest of the lineup increased 14.7%. Honda car sales rose 3.1%, while its other vehicles posted a 9.9% increase.

Some standouts for the month:

• For Nissan, they included the Rogue crossover, which is one month away from breaking Altima midsize car's yearly ranking as Nissan's best-selling vehicle. Rogue sales rose 18% to 26,629 units.
• For Toyota, the Highlander SUV was strong, recording a 66.7% increase to 21,241 vehicles. 
• Honda's strong point included the HR-V crossover, which more than doubled to 8,141 units.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.