US Auto Sales Rise 8 Per Cent in April; Carmakers See Spring Thaw

The US auto industry in April rebounded sharply from a bitter and extended winter, with car sales rising 8 per cent from the previous year.

Six of the top seven automakers reported year-to-year sales gains on Thursday. However, only four topped analysts' expectations.

The industry delivered 1.39 million cars in April, up 8 per cent from the previous year, according to research firm Autodata Corp.

Tapping consumer demand that began to increase as the bad weather broke in late March, General Motors Co, Toyota Motor Corp, Nissan Motor Co and Hyundai Motor Co beat expectations, with Toyota and Nissan both posting double-digit increases.

Chrysler Group LLC, a unit of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, also registered a double-digit sales gain in April, but narrowly missed expectations, as did Ford Motor Co whose April sales slipped 1.0 per cent. Honda Motor Co, up 1 per cent, also missed.

"Sales momentum from March rolled into April, pushing the industry to its best back-to-back monthly sales pace since the fall of 2007," said Bill Fay, general manager of Toyota brand.

Toyota group sales, including the Lexus and Scion brands, totaled 199,660, up 13 per cent. Nissan sales, including Infiniti, were a record 103,934, up 18 per cent. Honda sales, including Acura, were 132,456.

Chrysler said US auto sales rose 14 per cent to 178,652. GM said sales increased 7.0 per cent to 254,076. Ford sales fell to 211,126.

Combined Hyundai and Kia sales in April climbed 8 per cent to 119,783.

April was seen as a second strong month in a row, after the cold and snowy weather in January and February dampened car buyers' enthusiasm.

"The economy continues to strengthen," said Kurt McNeil, head of GM's US sales operations.

"Retail demand was steady in April, and truck sales and transaction prices were especially strong."

The industry sold cars at an annual rate of 16.04 million in April, according to Autodata. Economists polled earlier by Reuters expected the industry's annual sales rate in April to come in at 16.2 million vehicles, which would be slightly slower than March.

Negative publicity over GM's recall earlier this year of 2.6 million vehicles linked to 13 deaths does not appear to have had a significant impact on the company's image or the appeal of its brands to US consumers, said Larry Dominique, executive vice president at industry researcher TrueCar.

The GM recall, for which the automaker took a $1.3-billion write-down in the first quarter, is "almost a bigger industry story than a consumer story," Mr Dominique said.

GM brands post increases

All four of GM's US brands reported year-to-year increases in April. Chevrolet and Cadillac were each up 5.0 per cent, Buick jumped 12 per cent, and GMC rose 13 per cent.

Sales at both the Ford and Lincoln brands declined in April - Ford down 0.3 per cent and Lincoln off 11 per cent.

Sales at Chrysler's Jeep line, which is to be the primary global brand of a merged Fiat and Chrysler expected later this year, rose 52 per cent in April from a year earlier.

Jeep US sales of 205,593 in the first four months of the year were 46 per cent higher than a year earlier. Chrysler chief executive Sergio Marchionne has set a target of 1 million sales globally for Jeep for the year.

Sales of large pickups remained strong in April, driven by hefty discounts from manufacturers and dealers.

Chrysler's Ram truck sales rose 17 per cent to 36,674. Ford's best-selling F-series pickup climbed 7.0 per cent to 63,387, the best April tally since 2006. GM's Chevrolet Silverado jumped 9 per cent to 42,755.

Two of the best-selling green cars in the country, the Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt, have had mixed results this year, although sales for both picked up in April.

The battery-powered Leaf saw sales rose 8 per cent to 2,088, with year-to-date sales up 33 per cent at 7,272. Sales of the Volt gasoline-electric hybrid were up 19 per cent in April to 1,548, but year-to-date sales are off 7 per cent to 5,154.

Sales among smaller manufacturers were mixed. Volkswagen AG, whose brands include Audi and Porsche, reported sales down 1 per cent to 50,556.

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