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Chrysler sales brake slightly
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April 1, 1998: 6:57 p.m. ET
But No. 3 automaker says truck sales hit record in March; SUVs were strong
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Chrysler Corp. posted a big drop in its U.S. car sales in March, but the booming demand for trucks and sport/utility vehicles drove the automaker to near record sales in the first quarter.
The nation's No. 3 automaker, closing the books on its second-best first quarter ever, said overall sales fell to 206,677 vehicles last month, down nearly 2 percent from the year-earlier month.
Car sales fell 17 percent to 61,656 while truck sales -- including sport/utility vehicles and minivans -- rose 6 percent to 145,021. Trucks accounted for nearly 70 percent of sales.
Meanwhile, several foreign automakers posted soft results.
Toyota sales tumbled 13.4 percent to 105,389, hurt by a 24 percent drop in the Camry sedan to 30,390. Lexus, Toyota's luxury division, however, had a 42.9 percent increase to 10,672, boosted by 1,902 sales of its new RX 300 luxury sport-utility.
Nissan continued its sales slide, reporting a 42.3 percent drop, Mitsubishi Motor Corp. had a 27.8 percent drop, while Subaru of America Inc. had a sales increase of 20.7 percent.
Honda Motor Corp. Ltd. said sales improved 5 percent. Sales of the popular Accord sedan rose 24.5 percent and Civic small car sales were up 5.5 percent.
Sales of the Honda Passport sport-utility were up 55 percent, although the hot-selling CR-V small sport-utility had an unusual decline of 19.8 percent to 7,200.
Honda spokesman Art Garner said the CR-V was down because the company has nearly sold out its inventories and was up against a strong month a year ago.
March sales for the 12 of 22 automakers that reported Wednesday were running 8.6 percent behind the 1997 level.
General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., which account for more than half of U.S. light vehicle sales, are scheduled to release results Friday.
Chrysler reported sales of Dodge trucks rose to more than 89,000 units in March, their highest monthly level ever.
Sales of sport/utility vehicles, powered by continued strength of the Jeep Cherokee and the new Dodge Durango, were up 30 percent from last year.
Dodge Durango
Despite Chrysler's slumping car sales, the Auburn Hills, Mich.-based company said its compact car sales rose to a seventh straight monthly record in March, with more than 19,000 vehicles sold.
The March figures lifted Chrysler to its second-best first quarter ever, after 1996, with 578,300 vehicles sold during the three-month period.
"The strong first-quarter results lead us to believe that 1998 will again be a very good year for both Chrysler and the industry," said James Holden, executive vice president for sales and marketing, in a statement.
Chrysler said it expects to have made inroads against its two larger rivals, with a market share of about 16 percent in the first quarter.
Last year, Chrysler had about a 15 percent market share in the first quarter, according to a company spokesman.
David Healy, an analyst with Burnham Securities Inc., said sales of the new Dodge Intrepid and Chrysler Concorde midsize cars appeared to be lagging expectations. Sales of the Intrepid fell 41 percent while Concorde sales rose 38 percent.
"They may be a little slow for new models," said Healy. "(Chrysler) may still be pipeline filling, building up dealer inventories for Concorde. They have a lot of hopes pinned on those cars."
Chrysler shares [C] rose 1/4 to 41-7/8 in New York Stock Exchange trading Wednesday. 
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Chrysler
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