Kokomo — For most automakers, April brought sputtering sales showers.
But it brought financial flowers to Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC.
With 982,131 total vehicles sold last month, auto-industry sales were up 19.9 percent over April 2009’s sales.
However, when automotive analysts translate and compare April’s seasonally adjusted, overall sales to March’s sales, there was a decline from 11.8 million vehicles to 11.2 million vehicles sold.
But for Ford and Chrysler, everything sprouted roses. Both companies reported 25 percent sales increases.
“We are doing all of this without any new products out,” said Rich Boruff, president of United Auto Workers Local 685. “I can’t wait until our new products hit the floor. We are going to come out strong from this.”
April’s increase was Chrysler’s best year-over-year percentage improvement in almost five years. In addition, the company continued its trend of month-over-month sales increases this year, according to a company spokeswoman.
“From the unnatural acts and incentives we had to use last year to sell cars so we didn’t have to go through a bankruptcy, this is a big jump for us,” said Kathy Graham, Chrysler’s spokeswoman.
A significant part of Chrysler’s sales came from minivans, Graham added. With incentives, Chrysler’s Town and Country sales increased 80 percent and Dodge’s Caravan increased 56 percent.
Families shopping for minivans, continued Graham, aided in selling other vehicles as well, as sales surged for the Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger.
“Our minivan promotional event worked and helped drive overall sales,” said Graham. “We have a solid foundation to build upon. We made money the first quarter. I think this is a pattern that will continue. We are making progress to turn the corner and we have high expectations for our upcoming products.”
As for new products, both the anticipated Fiat 500 and Jeep Grand Cherokee will soon be in showrooms. By year’s end, Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said 16 Chrysler vehicles will be all-new or updated.
Furthermore, after ending 2009 with a net loss of $3.785 billion, Marchionne announced an aggressive plan in April — its first published financial statement since emerging from bankruptcy. To increase market share, Marchionne said Chrysler will produce a third of the products for both Fiat and Chrysler, Jeep will become a global brand and Fiat’s Alfa Romeo will re-enter the American market as a full-line brand and be sold with Chrysler products.
Chrysler’s North American plants are scheduled to build 400,000 vehicles for the company’s European brands.
“Everything is moving forward,” said Marge Weigt, general sales manager of Button Dodge. “[Dealers] have opened our wallets to buy. The people are opening their wallets and the banks are opening their wallets. It’s like a big circle locally. We are all taking care of one another. I’ve had a man come in to trade in a BMW for our Ram Truck. It is a very positive thing.”
Since announcing Chrysler’s five-year plan in November, Marchionne has maintained the company can break even this year by selling 1.1 million vehicles in the U.S. and 1.65 million globally.
Nevertheless, there may be a few May showers ahead for Chrysler:
• This week the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced it is investigating 161,000 2007 Dodge Caliber cars for sticky acceleration pedals.
In a statement, Chrysler said it is not aware of any accidents involving the Caliber; a car that has been rated good in front-impact by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. “Good” is the highest IIHS rating.
Weigt is unaware of any problems as well with the car but customers owning a Caliber built between March and April 2006 may visit a Dodge dealer for a free test.
• Earlier this year, Chrysler recalled 24,177 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles to repair a defective part that could cause sudden-brake failure.
• May’s new incentives include zero-percent financing for 60 month, low lease rates and up to $4,000 cash back on 2010 models.
The incentives run through June 1 and are being used to help Chrysler sell its 2010 models as it prepares to release its 2011 products.
Yet, the incentives may not be enough to keep Chrysler’s sales surging, said an automotive analyst.
“It’s nothing really special. It’s almost the same thing they offered last month,” said Ivan Drury, an analyst for Edmunds.com. “It is a good thing that they have seen their sales increase. But what type of sales are they really? On [Chrysler] April report, they didn’t get really specific, on what type of sales they were reporting. If all they have is fleet sales and are selling to rental companies and the government, that’s not good at all.”
Still, dealers have been selling their inventories. In April, Chrysler had a 53-day supply of inventory, or 196,614 units, versus 336,913 units in April 2009.
So with month-to-month sales up and dealers selling inventory what was good in April should continue to improve, said a company official.
“April was a very positive month with concrete results that highlight the company is on track and gaining momentum.” said Fred Diaz, president and CEO of Ram Truck Brand and lead executive for the Sales Organization, adding the company’s first-quarter operating profit was $143 million.