A Record April for Car and Truck Sales

DETROIT -- (WWJ) Car and truck sales are coming in at a pace that could make this the best April ever.

"I think that should provide relief to people who think sales were slowing after a disappointing March," said Autotrader.com analyst Michelle Krebs.

Honda taking the lead with a 14 percent increase over April of 2015. Nissan sales were close behind, up 13 percent. Fiat Chrysler sales rose 6 percent. Ford and Toyota sales rising 4 percent.

"We saw strong consumer demand in April, especially for pickups," said Mark LaNeve, Ford vice president, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service. "F-Series has moved past the quarter million sales mark year to date – the strongest start for F-Series in a decade, while Ford brand SUVs are having their best year ever."

Ford saw Explorer sales rise 22 percent. At Fiat Chrysler, Jeep and Ram sales were up double digits. Sales of car heavy brands--Chrysler and Fiat--were down.

"Fiat Chrysler is a microcosm for the entire industry," said Krebs."

The Chrysler 200 mid size car remained in a downward spiral, with sales down 60 percent. People were buying mid-size cars. Chevy Malibu sales rose 34 percent.

This came as GM sales were falling four percent...based on their strategy to de-emphasize lower profit fleet sales. GM's retail sales rose three percent.

"GM's retail growth over the last 12 months has outpaced the industry by a wide margin because our redesigned large pickups and SUVs are hits, we made smart investments in new segments like small crossovers and mid-size pickups, and our momentum in the car business is accelerating with each new model introduction," said Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president of Sales Operations. "GM bucked the industry trend with flat year-over incentives, we are managing with lean inventories and our Commercial and Government fleet business is growing."

The one down spot was Volkswagen, which saw its sales down 12 percent, due to the emission cheating crisis.

Overall, it was a strong report, with analysts expecting the solid sales to continue. But, Kelley Blue Book's Karl Brauer says it's becoming more more difficult to keep the momentum going.

"We are seeing incentives creep up, particularly on the car side, but a robust consumer appetite for trucks and SUVs remains in place. Barring unforeseen economic disruptions, 2016 could be another year of record auto sales."

Connect with Jeff Gilbert
Email: jdgilbert@cbs.com
Facebook: facebook.com/carchronicles
Twitter: @jefferygilbert