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Trucks, SUVs Push Fiat Chrysler To 6 Pct. April Sales Jump

TOM KRISHER, AP Auto Writers
DEE-ANN DURBIN, AP Auto Writers

DETROIT (AP) - The truck and SUV boom continued last month, propelling Fiat Chrysler to a 6 percent sales increase and its best April in more than a decade.

The Italian-American automaker says it sold almost 200,000 vehicles last month, led by a 17 percent increase in sales of Jeep SUVs. The company's most popular vehicle was the Ram pickup with sales up 8 percent to more than 41,000. It was Fiat Chrysler's best April since 2005.

But the company's car sales fell 8 percent for the month, following a U.S. trend away from sedans. Sales of the Chrysler 200 midsize car fell 60 percent to around 7,600.

Analysts expect U.S. sales of new cars and trucks to be up 4 percent over last April when companies report numbers on Tuesday. Car-buying site Edmunds.com predicts April sales of more than 1.51 million, beating the previous record for the month set in 2005.

Most major automakers were expected to see sales increases. General Motors Co., which has been cutting back on rental-car sales, and Volkswagen AG, which is struggling with an emissions cheating scandal, were likely to see declines.

April — traditionally a month of calm before the hot summer selling season — indicates that 2016 could be another record year for the U.S. auto industry, said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds' director of industry analysis. U.S. auto sales hit a record of 17.5 million last year.

As sales reach those historic peaks, however, the overall pace is slowing. Two years ago, for example, April sales jumped 8 percent, or double last month's expected pace. J.D. Power and Associates predicted that April sales this year would run at an annual rate of 17.6 million.

For now, the sales outlook is still mostly sunny. Consumers are on track to spend more than $36.9 billion on new vehicles in April, surpassing the previous record for the month which was set last year, according to J.D. Power and LMC Automotive.

But there are some worrying trends for the industry.

Buyers are flocking to SUVs and trucks, which might force manufacturers to offer big discounts on cars to move them off lots. That's good for buyers in the short term, but incentives can flood the market with cars and hurt resale values.

Sales to individual consumers also appear to be slowing, so automakers are relying more on less profitable sales to rental-car companies and other fleets. J.D. Power expected April sales to individual buyers to rise 4 percent, while sales to fleets were expected to jump 8.7 percent.

© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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