Auto Sales

American automakers are a source of strength among manufacturers. Ford Motor Co. today reported a 6.4 percent increase in November sales from a year ago, exceeding analysts’ estimates of a 2.4 percent gain.

“November represented a strong month for the industry, and Ford sales performed well across the board,” Ken Czubay, Ford vice president of marketing, said in a statement.

Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford also said that it is planning to build 750,000 vehicles in the first quarter, up 11 percent from the same three months this year.

Replacement demand from owners of damaged vehicles and purchases deferred by Sandy, which slammed into the East Coast on Oct. 29, probably boosted U.S. car and light-truck sales in November to the best monthly pace in more than four years. The annualized industrywide light-vehicle sales rate, adjusted for seasonal trends, may have accelerated to 15 million, according to the median estimate.

Economists’ Estimates

Estimates for the Tempe, Arizona-based group’s ISM index from the 83 economists surveyed ranged from 49 to 53.5. The gauge averaged 55.2 in 2011 and 57.3 a year earlier.

The ISM’s index of U.S. new orders dropped to a three-month low of 50.3 in November from 54.2. The gauge of export orders contracted for a sixth straight month. The employment index decreased to the lowest level since September 2009.

Other regional manufacturing reports showed weakness last month, much of it in areas hit by Sandy. Factory activity in the New York-area contracted in November for the fourth consecutive month as the storm knocked out electrical power and limited activity, disrupting about 70 percent of businesses that were surveyed by the Federal Reserve. Output in the Philadelphia-area shrank for the sixth time in seven months.

Seven of 12 Fed districts reported “either slowing or outright contraction in manufacturing,” the central bank said last week in its Beige Book business survey, which reflected information collected before Nov. 14. The Cleveland, Richmond and St. Louis areas said business was positive.