U.S. consumers purchased 199,847 new vehicles from Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo dealers in October, down 26 percent compared with a year ago. Most models experienced sharp declines in October in the wake of this summer's strong sales.

Both car and truck sales were lower than a year ago, but cars fared better than trucks owing to contributions from new products. In October, all-new mid-size sedans arrived in dealer showrooms. Sales for the Ford Fusion (4,078), Mercury Milan (1,336), and Lincoln Zephyr (1,204) easily exceeded Ford's expectations.

The new Ford Mustang continued to post higher sales (up 22 percent) and the Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego full-size sedans, which also were introduced last October, registered higher sales than a year ago.

Land Rover dealers reported record October sales (up 40 percent) on the strength of its two new models – the LR3 and Range Rover Sport.