Domestic Car and Truck Sales Rise 2.8% in Late April

Sales of North American-made cars and light trucks edged up 2.8% in late April as rising sales of “transplant” cars from foreign-owned factories helped overcome a sharp sales drop at Chrysler Corp., the auto makers reported Thursday.

Chrysler said its car sales in the April 21-30 period dropped 33.8% and light truck sales dropped 16.5% from that period a year earlier. Increases at General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. barely offset the declines.

Overall, North American-made cars and trucks sold at an average rate of 47,684 units during the period, up 2.8%, while the average rate for Big Three vehicles was 41,543, up just 0.1%.

“Industry sales are still at a fragile pace,” said Scott Merlis, auto industry analyst at Morgan Stanley & Co. in New York.

Sales of the transplant vehicles manufactured in domestic plants by overseas makers rose 16.5% for the period, although they averaged a combined sales rate of only 5,135 a day. For the year through the end of April, sales of the transplants were up a sharp 39.4%.

VEHICLE SALES

Apr. 21-30 % change 1990 year to year GM* 170,194 +5.2 Ford* 114,166 +7.8 Chrysler* 47,980 -25.4 Honda U.S. 17,822 -16.9 Isuzu**U.S. 946 NC Mazda U.S. 1,856 +2.0 Mitsubishi U.S. 1,772 +142.7 NissanU.S.* 11,678 +52.5 SubaruU.S.* 277 ** Toyota U.S. 14,778 +94.1 TOTAL 381,469 +2.8

*Includes light truck sales.

**No comparison possible.

There were 8 selling days in the selling period this year and last year.