U.S. Automakers March Sales Up

(RTTNews) - U.S. automakers reported sales growth for March, driven by continued demand for trucks and sport-utility vehicles. However, sales of General Motors Co. (GM), Ford Motor Co. (F) and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCAU) fell short of estimates.

GM said March sales rose 0.9 percent to 252,128 units from last year. Retail deliveries rose 6 percent to 193,524 vehicles in March, driven largely by a 7 percent increase at Chevrolet and a 13 percent increase at GMC. Analysts were expecting sales to grow 6 percent, according to reports.

"The strong retail and Commercial sales GM has been delivering are the result of a multi-year strategy to strengthen our brands, attract new customers and grow profitably," said Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president of Sales Operations. "We are growing retail sales faster than the industry, and we are doing it with disciplined incentives and inventories, and lower rental deliveries."

For March, the Chevrolet sales gained 1.4 percent to 176,283 units, GMC brand rose 6.9 percent to 44,585, Cadillac brand slipped 5.1 percent to 13,053 and Buick dropped 11.3 percent to 18,207.

Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford's March sales rose 8 percent to 254,711 vehicles from last year. This represents the company's best sales performance for March and first quarter since 2006. Analysts were expecting sales to grow 9.4 percent, according to reports.

Ford's car sales for the month dropped 1.6 percent year-over-year, while truck sales jumped 11.4 percent and utilities sales rose 14.1 percent.

"Customers continue buying high-end SUVs and trucks, helping the Ford brand increase its average transaction prices by more than $1,600 per vehicle in March - nearly double the industry average," said Mark LaNeve, Ford vice president, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service.

Fiat Chrysler said its U.S. vehicle sales for March rose 8 percent to 213,187 units driven by strong demand for Dodge, Jeep, Ram Truck brands. Analysts were expecting sales growth of 13.9 percent, according to reports.

"Strong Jeep and Ram brand sales gave us a fast start to the important spring selling season and extended our year-over-year monthly sales gains to six full years," said Reid Bigland, Senior Vice President - Sales, FCA - North America.

Jeep sales rose 15 percent, while Chrysler brand sales declined 13 percent. Dodge sales rose 11 percent, while Ram brand also rose 11 percent. Fiat sales tumbled 24 percent.

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., a unit of Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), reported March sales of 219,842 units, a drop of 2.7 percent. Analysts were expecting sales growth of 5.6 percent, according to reports.

Toyota division posted March sales of 189,644 units, down 2.7 percent; while Lexus posted sales of 30,198 units, down 2.8 percent. "Trucks hauled the industry to see the best March in over a decade," said Bill Fay, Toyota division group vice president and general manager. "For the Toyota division, light trucks, mostly supported by record sales of RAV4 and Highlander, posted best-ever March and first quarter sales."