April Was a Good Month for US Automakers - East Idaho News
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April Was a Good Month for US Automakers

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Getty B 010412 CarSales?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1367491196670Steve Gorton/Getty Images(DETROIT) — Figures released Wednesday by General Motors, Ford and Chrysler showed sales were up substantially from April 2012 and in fact, it was the strongest April recorded since 2007.

Jessica Caldwell, an analyst with Edmunds.com, said Americans have started to open up their wallets to make big purchases due to an improvement in the housing market, an increase in construction and the economy recovering in general.

Trucks drove a lot of the business, according to Caldwell.

Ford said sales of its F-Series pickup rose more than 24 percent compared to April a year ago with overall sales up by nearly 18 percent.

General Motors and Chrysler each reported 11 percent growth last month with sales at Chrysler’s Ram truck division rising almost 50 percent from a year ago. GM’s GMC Sierra and the Chevrolet Silverado also saw significant sales gains.

As for the imports, Nissan enjoyed a solid April although South Korea’s Hyundai was only up by two percent. Toyota’s sales slipped from a year earlier while Volkswagen was down by ten percent.

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