Car sales drag, while truck sales rev up

DETROIT, April 2 (UPI) — U.S. new vehicle sales rose 3.4 percent in March from last year with light trucks sales up and sales of passenger cars down, industry figures showed.

Compared to March 2012, sales of passenger cars dropped 1.3 percent to 753,702 from 763,306. Sales of light trucks — what might be called residential trucks as opposed to commercial trucks — rose 9 percent from March 2012, Autodata said Tuesday.

General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. fit the pattern with passenger car sales off 3.3 percent, 0.2 percent, and 3.7 percent, respectively, and gains of 13.8 percent, 9.4 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively, in truck sales.

But Chrysler LLC and American Honda Motor Company Inc. went the other way. Chrysler’s passenger car sales leaped 20.6 percent from March a year ago, while truck sales slipped 2.1 percent.

Honda’s car sales rose 13.8 percent, while sales of light trucks slid 0.3 percent, Autodata reported.