DETROIT – It was raining customers at Chrysler dealerships in the month of April. Chrysler had its best April since 2008 with sales up 20 percent compared to April 2011.
It's the 11th consecutive month the company has experienced sales gains of at least 20%, a remarkable comeback from its bankruptcy, now far behind in the rearview mirror.
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Surprisingly the biggest improvements were in the formerly maligned Chrysler sedan fleet.
Chrysler 300 sales were up 138%. Sales of the mid-size Chrysler 200 jumped 61%.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee, assembled in Detroit, had its best April in 7 years.
Chrysler sweetened incentives 4% compared to last April, but overall incentives are the lowest we've seen in 7 years, an average of just $2071.
"This is the clearest indication yet that consumer motivation is high and that automakers feel little pressure to rely on incentives in order to keep sales churning," said Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Jessica Caldwell. "We'll likely see incentives linger at these low levels until auto sales ease off the torrid pace we've seen so far in 2012."
Only General Motors is acting aggressively, with incentives averaging $3446 for April 2012.