Toyota U.S. April Sales Up 13% - Update

(RTTNews) - Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp (TM) said Thursday its U.S. vehicle sales in April climbed 13.3 percent from last year amid demand for cars such as Corolla and Camry, as well as trucks like Highlander and 4Runner. Meanwhile, sales of hybrid Prius and Yaris slumped.

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

"For Toyota, truck sales continue to soar. Tundra is a highlight with double-digit gains as comfort, safety and technology of the all-new model remain a strong draw for consumers."

Toyota's U.S. sales in April grew to 199,660 units from 176,160 units last year. The month had 26 selling days compared with 25 days last year.

At namesake Toyota division, sales rose 11.7 percent to 176,495 units from 158,069 units, while sales at Lexus segment jumped 28 percent to 23,165 units from 18,091 units last year.

Car sales at Toyota division climbed 8.6 percent to 97,724 units, led by double-digit growth at Corolla and Camry brands, while Prius and Yaris sales dropped.

Lexus car division sales jumped 30.5 percent to 13,087 units, on strong sales of IS sedan.

Truck sales at Toyota division increased 15.6 percent to 78,771 units, on sales of Highlander, 4Runner, Sienna and Tundra.

Lexus truck sales improved 25 percent to 10,078 units.

TM is currently trading at $109.81, up $1.39 or 1.28%, on a volume of 180k shares on the NYSE.