US April auto sales up 20% in slow recovery

Auto sales [in the United States] rose about 20 percent in April from recession-stunted results a year earlier, reflecting a still-gradual recovery in the economy.

However, the figures were not as robust as some had hoped, particularly given incentives and a slew of economic data that suggest an economy on the mend after the deepest downturn since the depression of the 1930s.

"Overall, the U.S. economic recovery would appear to be on track, however the pace isn't expected to be as robust as compared to other post-war recoveries -- kind of a slow and steady sort of scenario," GM Vice President of U.S. sales Steve Carlisle said on a conference call.

Toyota Motor Corp sales rose more than 24 percent, a weaker-than-expected result, and the automaker extended record company incentives for a third consecutive month to jump-start sales that had tumbled earlier in the year due to massive safety recalls.

Nissan Motor Co Ltd posted the largest percentage gain at 35 percent, followed by Hyundai Motor Co at 30 percent and Ford Motor Co and Chrysler at 25 percent.

U.S. auto sales slipped by about 8 percent in April from March, about what industry executives had expected with a slight pullback on incentives overall, but all the largest automakers posted sales increases over a year earlier.

General Motors Co. posted a 6.4 percent sales increase from a year earlier, but held its position as the No. 1 seller in the United States by a wide margin in April over Ford. Toyota was third.

Excluding its discontinuing brands, GM sales rose 20 percent in April from a year earlier when the auto industry was bracing for bankruptcies by GM and Chrysler.

Chrysler filed for bankruptcy at the end of April 2009 and is now under management control of Italy's Fiat SpA. GM followed with a government-funded bankruptcy a month later.

"We are putting the fundamentals together for a full-blown recovery," TrueCar.com analyst Jesse Toprak said, adding that April sales showed another month in a slow return in consumer demand that was demolished in the past two years.

Ford, whose shares ended 2.2 percent higher at $13.30 on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, said F-Series pickup truck sales rose 42 percent and Escape SUV sales rose 41 percent.