NEW YORK: General Motors said Tuesday fuel-efficient vehicles drove US auto sales up 26 percent in April from a year ago as consumers faced rising gasoline prices.
‘Solid gains by GM's lineup of fuel-efficient passenger cars and crossovers powered the gains, led by the best sales month for the Chevrolet Cruze and record sales for the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain compact crossovers,’ the company said in a statement.
GM reported total sales of 232,538 units, a gain of 27 percent from a year ago when including discontinued brands such as Hummer and Pontiac.
Retail sales, those to individual customers, rose 25 percent from April 2010, with cars and crossovers up 49 percent and 28 percent, respectively.
In the year to date, retail sales were up 35 percent from the prior year.
GM noted that April sales for the Cruze compact were 180 percent higher than the Chevrolet Cobalt it replaced, and that the Equinox and Terrain also posted retail sales records, up 53 and 61 percent, respectively.
The biggest US automaker said that gasoline prices, averaging almost $4 per gallon (3.8 liters), were prompting consumers to trade in larger vehicles for smaller, more fuel-efficient ones.
‘Recently, rising fuel prices have led many to re-think their vehicle choice,’ Don Johnson, vice president of US sales operations, said in the statement.
‘Because of the investments we've made in fuel-efficiency and global product architectures, the company is well-positioned to meet these needs.’
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