Car sales jumped in March, led by a 34% gain at Chrysler Group.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Chrysler Group said that March was its best sales month in four years, kicking off what is expected to be another strong month for car sales.
Chrysler sold 163,381 cars and trucks in the month, up 34% from a year ago, and its best results since March 2008. Sales were roughly in line with analyst forecasts for the company.
"The combination of credit availability, an improving economy, pent-up demand and even high fuel prices encouraging people to acquire newer, more fuel-efficient vehicles are all helping to drive industry sales," said Reid Bigland, head of U.S. sales for Chrysler Group, which includes the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram and Fiat brands here.
Gas prices rose steadily throughout March, with a gallon of gas at nearly $4, a record high for this time of year.
Typically overall auto sales are hurt by gas price spikes, as the drop in demand for less fuel-efficient models outweighs any gains in high-mileage vehicles. But that has not been the case with the current run-up in gas prices.
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Chrysler, which four years ago had no models that got 30 miles per gallon or more on the highway, now has six models that top that fuel efficiency benchmark. Those six models accounted for 29% of its March sales. And that's before what is expected to be its hottest-selling fuel efficient model, the Dodge Dart, reaches dealers June.
But customers also flocked to models such as the Ram pick-up truck, the Grand Cherokee SUV and the Town & Country minivan.
Other automakers are also expected to report strong sales Tuesday, helped by demand for fuel efficient cars as well as gas-guzzling truck models. General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) has already said it sold more than 100,000 cars that get 30 mpg or better on the highway in the month, a first for the company in the U.S.
GM is expected to post a 20% year-over-year gain in sales. And while forecasters expect only narrow gains at Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500), other major automakers such as Toyota Motor (TM) are also likely to report a strong jump in sales.
Overall industrywide sales are expected to come in at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate above 14 million vehicles for the month, which would cap the best quarter for U.S. auto sales since early 2008.
Some analysts have raised their sales targets to nearly 15 million vehicles this year, up from 12.8 million last year. That's a much faster rebound to than analysts anticipated even as recently as last year.
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