Sales advance 3.5% on fatter deals, truck volume; SAAR rebounds to 17.42M

Led by gains at Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Fiat Chrysler and Ford, U.S. light-vehicle sales increased 3.5 percent to 1.506 million in April, a record for the month.

After a lackluster March that disappointed some automakers, April produced solid gains across the industry, with fatter deals and light trucks driving volume higher.

The seasonally adjusted sales rate came in at 17.42 million, slightly below the 17.5 million forecast by analysts, but up sharply from the March sales pace of 16.56 million and 16.77 million in April 2015.

“Consumer preference for SUVs and pickup trucks continued unabated in April,” said Reid Bigland, FCA’s senior vice president for North America sales.

Honda Motor Co. said sales surged 14 percent -- an April record for the company -- including a 15 percent boost in its namesake brand to go with a 9 percent increase at the Acura brand.

Nissan Motor Co. soared 13 percent for its third double-digit gain of 2016. FCA US stretched its streak of monthly gains into a seventh year with a 5.6 percent increase. Ford Motor Co. rode its F-series pickups and Explorer to a 3.6 percent gain.

Toyota Motor Corp. said overall sales notched a 3.8 percent gain, with namesake brand sales rising 3.7 percent. Lexus sales declined 3.8 percent. Scion sales rose 54 percent.

General Motors recorded its biggest decline -- 3.5 percent -- in more than two years. Each GM brand fell as the automaker continued to emphasize deliveries to individual customers and dial back on less-profitable sales to rental fleets. Retail sales rose 4 percent.

FCA streak

FCA’s Jeep and Ram brands continued to be a source of strength, up 18 percent and 12 percent, respectively. Demand fell 18 percent at the Chrysler brand, 3 percent at Dodge and 19 percent at Fiat.

Fiat Chrysler’s U.S. sales have now advanced 73 consecutive months.

FCA also continues to benefit from some of the highest discounts in the U.S. market. TrueCar estimates FCA’s average incentive rose 25 percent to $3,967 per vehicle last month from April 2015.

GM’s 3.5 percent decline was its largest since a 12 percent drop in January 2014. Cadillac had the biggest tumble, down 29 percent, followed by Buick (down 2.8 percent), Chevrolet (down 2.3 percent) and GMC (off 0.1 percent).

Ford's gains included a 13 percent gain for F-series pickups. Ford sold more than 70,000 of the F-series for a second consecutive month, achieving the truck’s best April since 2005.

Sales of the Explorer rose 25 percent, in contrast with declines for two other crossovers, the Escape and Edge. Ford’s car sales fell 12 percent, including a 17 percent drop for the Fusion midsize sedan.

Ford says full-size pickups outsold midsize cars in April. Full-size pickups gained a full point of share and midsize cars lost a full point.

TrueCar estimates Ford incentives rose 24 percent in April. 

The Lincoln brand posted a 20 percent increase, with the MKC up 51 percent and the redesigned MKX nearly doubling its results from a year ago.

Also in the luxury segment, Audi said it posted its 64th consecutive monthly sales record in April, with sales rising 5.8 percent to 17,801 deliveries. The Q3, Q5 and Q7 SUVs led the way along with the all-new A4 sedan. Among other luxury brands, deliveries slipped at BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

Volume jumped 33 percent at Volvo and 0.7 percent at Jaguar. But Land Rover posted its first monthly decline in sales since December 2014, snapping a 15-month streak of gains, with April volume off 2.3 percent.

Hyundai posted its first decline this year with April deliveries down 8.5 percent.

At Subaru, sales increased 6.6 percent to 50,380 in April compared with a year earlier -- its 53rd consecutive month of growth. The company reconfirmed its 2016 U.S. sales target of 600,000 vehicles, which would mark Subaru’s eight-consecutive year of growth.

Among other automakers, April sales rose 6.1 percent at Kia, 8.6 percent at Mazda and 18 percent at Mitsubishi.

'Back on track'

U.S. sales have now advanced 3.3 percent to 5.593 million this year through April and are on pace to rise for a seventh straight year.

Low gasoline prices, healthy incentives, favorable finance offers, pockets of pent-up demand and a stable national economy continue to support new-vehicle sales, analysts say.

“Top-line performance of the industry remains robust -- retail demand is strong, transaction prices are at record levels and consumers will spend more on new vehicles than in any other April on record,” said John Humphrey, senior vice president of the global automotive practice at J.D. Power. “The slowing rate of growth, shift in consumer demand away from cars and toward SUVs, and elevated fleet volumes pose significant challenges to manufacturers as they compete in the marketplace.”

Still, some analysts expressed concerns that some of April's sales gains came as a result of elevated discounts.

“Increased fleet sales and rising incentive spending among automakers remain the factors to watch, but retail demand appears to be holding steady, signaling the industry’s strong run isn’t over quite yet,” said Tim Fleming, an analyst for Kelley Blue Book.

Overall, TrueCar estimates April incentives rose 13 percent to $3,021 a vehicle from a year earlier, and fell 2.7 percent from March.

Among major automakers, TrueCar estimates April incentives averaged $4,713 per vehicle at BMW AG, $3,911 at Daimler AG, $3,423 at Ford, $3,909 at GM, $1,631 at Honda, $2,201 at Hyundai, $2,839 at Kia, $3,298 at Nissan, $572 at Subaru, $2,017 at Toyota and $3,276 at the Volkswagen Group.

Nick Bunkley and Diana T. Kurylko contributed to this report.