Chrysler, the United States automaker of the Jeep, Ram and Dodge brands, reported Tuesday that overall auto sales increased 13 percent last month, a lot higher than initial industry expectations of just two percent.
The automobile manufacturer posted its 48th consecutive monthly gains, mostly due to enhanced sales of the Jeep Cherokee SUV and Ram 1500 pickups. The No. 4 automaker in the U.S. maker sold 193,915 units in March and is the best March result since 2007 at the height of the economic crisis.
Jeep brand sales increased 47 percent, Ram saw sales jump 29 percent, Fiat sales inched 24 percent higher and Dodge only experienced a one percent boost. Chrysler brand sales, however, dropped by nearly one-quarter (23 percent).
Sales of new cars and trucks were lower than expected in the first two months of the year because of the terrible winter weather conditions that afflicted much of Canada and the U.S. March began to see increases and now with spring being here weather conditions shouldn’t have much of a factor on sales.
“Now that spring has arrived, weather conditions shouldn’t have the impact on car shoppers it had at the beginning of 2014, and we’ll be able to get a better sense of the true strength of the marketplace in coming months,” Jessica Caldwell, senior analyst at Edmunds.com, said in a report.
Chrysler, which is part of the Daimler AG family of companies, saw its shares rise 1.5 percent.
Chrysler was the very first major automaker to report March sales.
General Motors, congress
General Motors is expected to release its March statement Tuesday. Reuters reported that GM will delay its sales sheet by several hours because of a computer glitch. The company’s release was scheduled for 9:30 a.m.
Industry forecasts project GM’s U.S. sales to rise 0.5 percent. However, the primary focus will be on GM CEO Mary Barra’s congressional testimony at 2 p.m. Tuesday regarding the company’s slow response to defective ignition parts that shut off power to air bags that have been the cause of at least 13 deaths. She apologized profusely in her speech to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight, according to remarks filed in advance.
“Sitting here today, I cannot tell you why it took years for a safety defect to be announced in that (small-car) program, but I can tell you that we will find out,” said the GM executive. “When we have answers, we will be fully transparent with you, with our regulators and with our customers.”
GM’s stock rose in the morning trading session close to two percent.