Auto sales increases reported across the board

DETROIT — Americans’ appetite for bigger and more expensive vehicles continued to grow in April as easy credit and lower gasoline prices bolstered a modestly improving economy.

General Motors and Fiat Chrysler posted 6 percent increases in their April U.S. sales, while Ford was up 5 percent.

Toyota saw its sales increase 1.8 percent and Nissan sales rose 5.7 percent while Volkswagen sales were down almost 3 percent.

Pickup trucks, SUVs, vans and crossover utilities are outselling passenger cars as they have since gas prices began declining in the fall of 2014.

“The average new car loan issued in April was 67.8 months — the longest average new car loan term in history,” said Jessica Caldwell, an industry analyst with Edmunds. “In many cases, car shoppers are financing vehicles with higher transaction prices than they might otherwise choose.”

The average new vehicle sold for $32,189, according to TrueCar, up 1.1 percent from a year earlier.

GM’s sales were fueled by a 20 percent increase at GMC and Cadillac’s 14 percent gain, reflecting Americans’ renewed love affair with large SUVs. Sales of Cadillac Escalade soared 144 percent from April 2014.

“Consumer and commercial customer demand for pickups and utility vehicles has been building since last fall, and that’s a clear sign that the slowdown in GDP growth during the winter months was caused by factors that are mostly transitory in nature,” said Kurt McNeil, GM U.S. vice president of sales.

Chevrolet sales rose 3.4 percent, led by large increases for the Equinox and Traverse utility vehicles. Chevy also sold 45,978 Silverado pickups, up 7.5 percent from a year earlier. Buick sales slipped 5.2 percent.

Ford had total sales of 222,498, led by record SUV sales while FSeries pickup sales fell 1 percent as the automaker continues to ramp up production of the new F-150 and is still months from being able to fill fleet orders for the 2015 model.

The Lincoln brand was up by 20 percent while the Ford brand, hurt by F-150 shortages, was up just 5 percent. Low gas prices contributed to strong SUV sales. The new Ford Edge midsize crossover had a 78 percent jump in sales for the month while the Lincoln Navigator, a full-size luxury SUV, was up 36 percent.

For Fiat Chrysler, April was the 61st consecutive month that its U.S. sales exceeded the year-earlier level. The sales increase was led by very strong demand for the Chrysler 200 sedan and Jeep Cherokee and Wrangler.

Industry sales ran at an annual pace of 17.1 million vehicles in March.