Last year, the automotive industry contained 27 selling days in the month of April. This year, that number fell to 24 but despite that drop, the American people proved that their love affair with wheeled motion is still alive and strong. During those shorter days, a total of 1,184,447 light duty cars and trucks were purchased in the United States which was 2.3 percent more than April 2011. Driving the segment lead was the midsize sedan, which at 323,095 total units, outsold all other vehicle types by almost 100,000. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the large car was down once again and in April, the fall was even harder. During the month, just 606 big-bodied sedans were purchased; down 93.7 percent from last year.
This next statement should come as zero surprise but even still, the Ford F-Series pickup managed to once again take top spot as the best-selling individual vehicle. The all-American workhorse sold 47,453 units: up 4.4 percent from 2011 and more than 10,000 greater than the second place Toyota Camry. Perhaps more impressive than the Camry’s continued comeback was the taker of third place: the Honda Accord. Since the start of 2012, the other Japanese family and fun machine hasn’t been doing that stellar but, at 35,385 sold, its 25.6 percent increase is just impressive. Even still, the showing by Honda was no match for the vehicle that landed at number five. With an increase of 101.7 percent from last April, the Toyota Prius managed to find 25,168 new buyers. Somehow, the iconic hybrid found a way back up top; something the Chevrolet Cruze could use as its sales figure of 18,205 was a fall by 27.6 percent.
Once again, General Motors took top honors in the battle for best-selling manufacture. The General sold 213,387 total cars and trucks and was the only maker to break into the 200,000s. Ford was a bit behind its American competitor with a total number of 179,658 units sold. The 5.1 percent fall was enough to let Toyota get dangerously close to taking the number two spot with 178,044. Even though Chrysler LLC increased its sales figures by 20.4 percent, its total output of 141,165 was just enough to earn fourth. Of the Germans, Volkswagen rode a wave of new model success to gain best sales for the European country. An increase of 31.5 percent allowed the total number of U.S. vehicles in April to hit 37,525. For the first month in 2012, Saab sold a total number of zero vehicles. Alias, in the United States, the Swedish institution is finally out like a light.
Source: WSJ
