Domestic New-Car Sales Jump 22% : All Manufacturers But AMC Report Gains for Mid-April

Rebounding from a decline in early April, new-car sales jumped an average of 22.5% in the middle 10 days of April, the domestic auto makers reported Wednesday.

General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Volkswagen of America and American Honda all reported sales increases for the April 11-20 period. American Motors, the only domestic manufacturer to report a decline for the period, said its sales were off an estimated 34.9%.

The six manufacturers sold a combined total of 284,490 cars in the most recent period, an increase over the 232,156 cars sold in the same period in 1984. There were nine selling days in the period both this year and last.

The domestic auto makers sold an average of 31,610 cars daily in mid-April, the best daily selling rate for the period since 1978, when the daily rate was 32,958.

The seasonally adjusted annual selling rate of 9.3 million was the highest recorded thus far this year. The annual rate for mid-April last year was 7.7 million. The annual rate is a calculation of the number of cars that would be sold if mid-April’s pace were to continue for a full year.

Auto analysts said the sales pace for the period was exceptionally strong, and they doubted that it would continue at the current rate.

“The sales level for the period can’t be sustained,” said John Hammond of Data Resources, a Lexington, Mass., economics research firm. “Even if the demand were out there, production could not keep up.”

Hammond said the sales numbers were higher than anticipated for the period. “It is encouraging for the auto industry, especially given that consumer spending in March was off,” he added.

Auto Sales

April 11-20 April 11-20 % 10-Day 1985 1984 change GM 164,034 143,743 +14.1 Ford 74,636 49,891 +33.1 Chrysler 36,732 28,253 +30.0 AMC * 3,425 5,265 -34.9 VW U.S. 2,133 1,915 +11.4 Honda U.S. 3,530 3,089 +14.3 TOTAL 284,490 232,156 +22.5

*Estimate