I am surprised Chrysler is up so much. I wonder if Americans are getting smart and starting to buy American.
"Chrysler reported a 25% rise to 95,703 vehicle sales in April, which it said was its best year-over-year percentage improvement in almost five years. The company said sales were up 3% from March.
Separately, Hyundai Motor Co. said its U.S. sales rose 30% in April to 44,023 vehicles. Other auto makers are expected to show significant increases when they report their sales totals later on Monday.
GM estimated the industrywide annual sales pace for in April was about 11.1 million vehicles, in line with analyst estimates. That would be lower than the annualized March sales pace of 11.78 million vehicles, but up from a year ago, when the rate was just 9.23 million.
A year ago, auto sales were depressed as the U.S. economy slipped into recession and GM and Chrysler were moving toward bankruptcy filings.
Ford's total was boosted by a 42% increase in sales of its F-150 pickup trucks. The company sold 40,946 F-150s in April, a good sign for the economy because pickup sales are closely tied to the housing industry since the vehicles are favorites of contractors and builders.
Chevrolet, GM's largest brand, saw a sales increase of 17.4% to 135,369 vehicles. Buick was up 36.4% to 12,181, Cadillac sales rose 35.7% to 11,317 vehicles and GMC sale climbed 18.4% to 24,224.
At the end of April, GM had inventories of about 430,000 vehicles, up 0.7% from the end of March but 42% lower than a year ago."
online.wsj.com |
