|
by Katherine Harbin Chrysler reported Tuesday it posted its best U.S. auto sales inApril since 2008, while sales for General Motors (GM) and Ford, twoother big American automakers, were revealed as down eight percentand five percent in the past month, respectively. Chrysler Group LLC notched up U.S. sales of 141,165 units in April,a 20 percent increase from the same period last year, which marksthe automaker's eleventh consecutive month of year-over-year salesgains. Leading Chrysler's sales increases was the group's Fiat brand,which posted a whopping 336 percent year-over-year sales gain inthe past month, a record high. Chrysler brand sales were alsostrong, with the year-over-year sales increase of 56 percent,making it the brand's best April since 2007. In addition to the Fiat 500, four other Chrysler models also setsales records in April, including the Chrysler 200 sedan, DodgeChallenger and Jeep Wrangler. The Dodge Avenger in particularposted a 47 percent sales gain, which was an all-time sales record. The April sales release comes around one week after Chryslerreleased its 2012 first quarter profits, which at 473 million U.S.dollars was the company's strongest performance in 13 years. April sales at competitors GM and Ford were not as successful asChrysler, as the rest of the Big Three U.S. automakers postedyear-over-year sales declines. Ford sold 180,350 vehicles in the United States in April, down fivepercent from the 189,778 achieved a year ago. Although Ford models Fusion and Edge set April sales records andFord Focus sales were up 13 percent for the month, Ford wassomewhat dragged down by poor performances from other brands ofmotor vehicles. The Ford Fiesta and Escape models were down 43.9 percent and 20percent year on year, respectively, while the Lincoln brand as awhole was down 12.8 percent. Recent higher gas prices in the United States have receivedincreased public attention, and Ford noted that the companycontinued to see strong demand for fuel-efficient vehicles. Fordsaid that it saw a 77 percent increase in vehicles with itsEcoBoost engines in April, mainly in the strong-performing Fusionand Focus brands. Meanwhile, GM sold 213,387 vehicles in the United States in April,an eight percent decline year on year. According to GM, its U.S. retail sales in April were essentiallyequal to that of last year, but due to the timing of rentalcustomer deliveries, GM's fleet sales were down 25 percent, leadingto the eight percent total decline. GM's GMC brand led sales increases in April, and was up 4.4 percentfrom a year ago. The Cadillac brand posted the sharpest retailsales drop, down 11.4 percent from the same time last year. Retail sales of GM's Chevrolet brand were essentially flat comparedto that of last year, with a year-on-year increase of 0.2 percent.If this April's three missing calendar sale days were factored outof the equation, however, Chevrolet cars would have posted a retailsales year-on-year gain of 12.7 percent, according to GM. GM said it remains optimistic regarding the outlook of the U.S.auto industry going forward, and taking into consideration thestrong first quarter growth it revised its industry forecast forthe year 2012 U.S. auto sales up to 14 to 14.5 million vehicles. According to research group Autodata Corp, U.S. auto sales totaled12.8 million in 2011. "We expect gradual improvement in the economy going forward," saidDon Johnson, Vice President of GM U.S. Sales Operations. "Over time, strength in the manufacturing sector and strong retailsales will lead to more job creation. That will help more consumersput the recession behind them, gain even more confidence and drivevehicle sales higher for both the industry and GM," Johnson said. The U.S. auto industry was hard-hit following the 2008 financialcrisis, with both GM and Chrysler filing for bankruptcy. The twowere later bailed out by the U.S. federal government. I am an expert from al2o3-ceramic.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Talc Ceramic , Ceramic Accessory, AL2o3 Ceramic,and more.
Related Articles -
Talc Ceramic, Ceramic Accessory,
|
