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U.S. Car Sales Up in April

04 May 2010 13:45 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. Boosted by a rebounding economy, U.S. auto sales jumped 20% in April as several car makers, including hard-hit Chrysler Group LLC, posted sizable gains, Wall Street Journal reported.

Auto makers sold 982,131 vehicles last month, according to Autodata Corp., up from the depressed level of 819,540 in April a year ago, when the U.S. was sliding deeper into recession and General Motors Co. and Chrysler were heading toward bankruptcy filings.

Chrysler, Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. all reported increases of about 25%. GM’s growth was limited to 7.2% because it its phasing out four brands under its restructuring, but the four brands it is keepingâ€”Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMCâ€”saw sales rise 20%.

Autodata said the annualized sales pace in April was about 11.21 million vehicles, slower than the rate of 11.78 million in March, but a clear step up from the year-ago figure of 9.23 million.

In April, Ford’s light-vehicle sales rose 24.9% to 167,283. The total includes sales of 4,546 vehicles by Volvo, which Ford is in the process of selling.

Ford was boosted by a 42% increase in sales of its F-150 pickup trucks, to a total of 40,946 in April. That’s a good sign for the economyâ€”pickup sales are closely tied to the housing industry since the trucks are favorites of contractors and builders.