May 2, 2013—Auto industry sales for April rose 8.5 percent from a year earlier to nearly 1.3 million cars and light trucks, according to the Associated Press.
Ford Motor Company, General Motors (GM) and Chrysler Group LLC, all experienced double-digit sales gains in April, signaling the best April for car and truck sales since 2007. This increase was primarily due to a rebound in pickup truck sales for the Detroit automakers
Chrysler said Wednesday that sales of its Ram pickups rose 49 percent in April from a year earlier, while sales of Ford Motor Company’s F-series truck rose 24 percent and combined sales of General Motors’ Silverado and GMC Sierra increased 23 percent.
GM saw an 11 percent sales jump in April, selling 237,646 units. All four of GM’s brands posted higher total and retail sales numbers.
Ford Motor came in second with an 18 percent increase in sales to 212,584. The company had its best April since 2007, with car sales up 21 percent and SUVS and trucks each growing 16 percent over 2012.
Chrysler also had its best April since 2007, with sales growing 11 percent to 156,698 units.
Honda sales grew 7 percent and Nissan was up 23 percent, while Toyota reported its sales fell 1 percent and Volkswagen saw sales fall 10 percent.