Chrysler's U.S. sales in April tumble 48% y/y

Chrysler, which Thursday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy organization and signed a deal to hand over its management to Fiat, reported Friday that its U.S. vehicle sales plunged 48 percent in April from a year ago.

The Auburn Hills, Mich., company sold 76,682 cars, trucks and SUVs during the period, a number depressed by a large reduction in fleet sales to rental car companies and government agencies as Chrysler attempts to focus on the consumer market.

As bad as the numbers looked, Chrysler President Jim Press said they were still "well above expectations, which shows the real strength of our dealers and products in the marketplace in spite of a month filled with troubling headlines. This gives us reason for optimism as we begin working on our new alliance and restructuring plans."

General Motors Corp., which is trying to avoid bankruptcy as it faces a government-set restructuring deadline of June 1, said that its sales fell 34 percent to 173,007 in April compared with a year ago.

However, fleet sales were running about 11 percent ahead of March.

"We see that stabilization, along with a firming up of our fleet business and improvement in Silverado and Sierra sales, as an encouraging sign," said Mark LaNeve, GM's vice president for North American vehicle sales.

However, sales for the brands that GM earlier this week said that it planned to sell or close -- Saturn, Hummer, Saab and Pontiac -- fell from 43.5 percent to 61.6 percent.

Ford Motor Co. said that its April sales dropped 32 percent from a year ago but that the company was continuing to gain market share as most other automakers faltered.

The Dearborn, Mich., company saw sales of its mid-size Ford Fusion jump 22 percent from a year ago as customers shifted from trucks and sport utility vehicles to smaller automobiles. New gas and hybrid versions of the Fusion helped sales climb. The company said it believed the Fusion brand had cracked into the ranks of Toyota's Camry and Honda's Accord and would turn out to be one of the nation's best-selling mid-size vehicles during April.

Butterfield Ford in Sandy racked up the best sales numbers of all Ford dealers in Utah during March, but sales were lower than a year ago, Sales Manager Mark Heffner said.

"They were down a little bit from last year, for sure. But we are definitely trending up," Heffner said.

Sales of Focus cars did well, but the dealership is still selling more trucks than cars, he said.

American Honda Motor Co., the U.S. division of the Japanese automaker, fared the best of the large companies. Sales fell 25.3 percent in April to 101,029. The Honda brand had a 24.5 percent decline. Sales of the company's higher-priced Acura cars fell 32.3 percent.

Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. said that April sales of its Toyota brand sank 42.2 percent to 112,345 from the same period a year ago. Toyota's Lexus luxury division sold 14,195 vehicles, down 39.2 percent from a year ago.

Nissan North America Inc. reported that April sales fell 37.8 percent to 47,190 vehicles from a year ago. Sales of its Nissan autos decreased 36.3 percent, while sales of Infiniti vehicles declined by 48.3 percent.