U.S. Vehicle Sales Rise 6%

Sales of cars and passenger trucks in the U.S. rose by 90,000 units to 1.54 million in March, according to Autodata Corp. The annual sales rate jumped to 16.4 million from 15.3 million a year earlier.

Demand for domestic brands grew 6% to 690,200 units as sales grew 4% for General Motors, 3% for Ford and 13% for Chrysler Group. Those models accounted for 45% of the total market.

European brands delivered 139,100 vehicles in the U.S. last month, up 7%, but their share of the market was unchanged at 9%. Segment leader Volkswagen, whose monthly sales have trailed year-earlier levels for 12 consecutive months, fell again, this time by 3% to 36,700 units.

Fiat, the only other European mass-market brand n America, boosted sales 25% to 4,700 units last month. Demand for BMW's Mini small-car models plunged 40% to 3,700 units.

BMW outsold rival Mercedes-Benz by 2,800 units in the U.S. last month. Other luxury nameplates reporting strong results for March were Audi (+8% to 14,200 units), Volvo (+10% to 5,900), Land Rover (+2% to 4,400) and Jaguar (+29% to 1,800). Maserati and Rolls-Royce posted gains of +341% and 381%, respectively.

Asian marques advanced their U.S. sales 5% to 708,000 units last month. Their market share dropped 0.3 points to 46.1%. Sales rose for Toyota (+5%), Nissan (+8%), Kia (+12%) and Mazda (+9%). Sales declined 2% each for Honda and Hyundai.