Automakers may report the best April sales in a decade even as some of them slightly missed analysts’ estimates. The good news is that highly profitable pickups and sport utility vehicles remain popular with shoppers.
General Motors Company deliveries rose 5.9 per cent, exceeding projections for a 5.3 per cent gain. Increases by Ford Motor, 5.4 per cent, Toyota Motor Corp., 1.8 per cent, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, 5.8 per cent, and Nissan Motor Company, 5.7 per cent, were less than predicted, according to yahoo.com. Industry wide sales may rise 5.9 per cent to about 1.47 million light vehicles, the average of 12 estimates.
The month’s results may be the best since 2005, said Eric Lyman, vice president of industry insights for Santa Monica, California-based automotive pricing firm TrueCar Inc.
With US gasoline prices down by about a third from a year ago, sales of large and luxury sport utility vehicles soared 31 percent in the first quarter, while family sedan sales fell 3 percent, according to researcher Autodata Corporation.
“Even if we’re a little short of expectations, it’s still a great month for the industry,” Lyman said. “It continues to lead the broader economic recovery.”
Trucks and SUVs remain the story for carmakers, analysts said. Compact SUVs outsold compact cars last month for the first time, said Larry Dominique, president of ALG Inc., which sets automotive resale values for the industry.
“This is the year of the crossover, the SUV and the pickup,” he said in a telephone interview. “It used to be that the sedan was the status vehicle that people aspired to. Now we’re seeing that desire shifting to sport-utilities.
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