U.S. Car Sales Rise 8%

A 13% jump in sales of light-duty trucks drove passenger vehicle volume in the U.S. to 1.39 million in April from 1.29 million a year ago, Autodata Corp. reports. Car sales increased 4%.

Last month's annualized sales rate of 16.0 million units compares with 16.4 million in March and 15.2 million for April 2013.

Demand for traditional American brands advanced 6% to 640,200 units as increases at General Motors (+7% to 254,100) and Chrysler (+14% to 174,400) offset a decline at Ford (-1% to 210,400).

Asian manufacturers posted an 11% sales increase to 624,900 units in April. All companies in that segment reported gains, led by Toyota (+13% to 199,700 vehicles), Nissan (+18% to 103,900), Kia (+13% to 53,700) and Subaru (+22% to 40,100). Honda's sales rose 1% to 132,500, and Hyundai's volume grew 4% to 66,100.

European brands sold 125,400 units last month, up 5%. Volkswagen continued to report year-on-year shrinkage (-8% to 30,800). But that loss was offset by hefty gains for such European luxury marques as Mercedes-Benz (+11% to 28,300), BMW (+9% to 25,200), Audi (+19% to 15,600) and Land Rover (+28% to 4,500).