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By Bloomberg

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV reported U.S. sales for November that exceeded analysts’ estimates and projected a blowout month as buyers cheered by falling gasoline prices and holiday specials flocked to dealerships.

Fiat Chrysler said sales climbed 20 percent to 170,839 for the 56th straight monthly increase for the third-largest automaker in the U.S., amid gains in deliveries of Jeep sport- utility vehicles, Ram pickups and the new Chrysler 200 family sedan. The average estimate was for a 16 percent jump.

“In total we had 11 vehicles last month that set new sales records,” Reid Bigland, Fiat Chrysler’s head of sales, said in a statement. “Calendar year to date, Chrysler Group remains the fastest growing automaker in the country.”

Sales of pickups and SUVs have benefited from cheap fuel. The price for a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. fell to $2.77 on Dec. 1, according to AAA, the motoring club. That’s the lowest since October 2010. Automakers have also offered deals to get a piece of consumers’ holiday spending. Black Friday, once associated with big-box retailers and shopping malls, marked an important day on the automotive sales calendar.

Fiat Chrysler, which began trading Oct. 13 on the New York Stock Exchange after the combination of Fiat SpA and Chrysler Group LLC, said the industry’s annualized sales pace for November may have reached 17.5 million, adjusted for seasonal trends and including medium- and heavy-duty trucks that typically account for at least 200,000 deliveries a year. It would be only the second month with a faster than 17 million pace since 2006 after August’s 17.5 million.

Jeep Jump

Jeep sales rose 27 percent to 57,489, including a 67 percent increase for the new Cherokee, which topped the Grand Cherokee with 16,945 deliveries. Ram pickup sales jumped 21 percent to 35,865 and sales of the Chrysler 200 more than doubled to 14,317, helping the brand to a 30 percent gain for the month.

Total light-vehicle deliveries are expected to rise 2.5 percent to about 1.28 million, based on projections compiled by Bloomberg. Analysts estimate that the annualized selling rate, adjusted for seasonal trends probably rose to 16.8 million, which would mark the ninth straight month of 16 million or higher.

Honda Motor Co. is projected to record a 4.3 percent increase, while Volkswagen AG may see a jump of 4.1 percent, according to analyst estimates gathered by Bloomberg. GM may see a 2.6 percent gain, while Toyota Motor Corp. may see a 2.1 percent increase, according to the survey. Ford is predicted to slip 2 percent.

Black Friday

Black Friday specials aided sales last month. Among them were Volkswagen AG’s zero-percent financing offer for 60-month loans on its Passat sedan, GM’s Cadillac luxury line $299-a- month lease deal on the ATS sedan and Ford’s $3,000 cash-back offer on the Fusion sedan, according to researcher KBB.com.

“Arguably more than other Black Fridays, this one seemed to have been positioned as a big ticket Black Friday,” Jeff Schuster, an analyst with LMC Automotive, said before the results were announced. “It’s the 65-inch TVs, big appliances or cars that consumers focused on. This month’s performance was riding on Black Friday and the weekend.”

Cheap money and fuel are accelerating demand, especially for expensive sport-utility vehicles and luxury cars, said Michelle Krebs, an analyst for AutoTrader.com, where searches for high-end wheels increased 20 percent last month.

“Conspicuous consumption is OK again,” Krebs said. “We may be back to the go-go days.”