Big 3 Automakers Report May Sales Gains

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — General Motors Co. sales in May were up 3%, the second month in a row the company reported year-over-year gains. Sales totaled 293,097 cars and trucks last month.

GM’s top-selling brand was Chevrolet, which sent 207,970 cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles to customers last month, a 1.4% increase over last year. The Silverado pickup led sales for Chevy, with 51,602 leaving showrooms in May.

The Lordstown-built Cruze continued to see sales fall as 23,752 were sold last month, a 26.7% decline over May 2014.

GMC sales were up 12.5% to 50,657, led by the Sierra pickup, which sold 18,977 units last month.

Sales for Buick were up a modest 0.5%, reaching 20,062 in May. The brand’s top seller was the Enclave crossover, selling 5,632.

Cadillac was the only GM brand to see a decline in sales as figures dropped 1.9% to 14,408 in May. The SRX was the brand’s top-selling vehicle, as 5,777 hit the streets.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles reported a 4% increase in sales over May 2014, the 62nd month of year-over-year sales increases. In total, the company sold 202,227 vehicles last month.

The Chrysler brand saw the largest sales increase with 32%, led by the 200, which sold 20,007 units in May, nearly seven times what was sold in the same month last year.

Jeep sales rose 13% to 79,652 units with the Wrangler coming in as the top seller with 22,324 sold, while sales for the Ram truck line climbed 12% behind 39,952 Ram Pickups sold.

Sales for Dodge dropped 22% to 45,268 vehicles last month, while the Fiat nameplate saw sales decline to 3,867 in the U.S., a 19% fall. The top two sellers for the two brands were the Dodge Journey van, which sold 8,813, and the Fiat 500, with 2,614 leaving showrooms.

Ford Motor Co. sold 250,813 vehicles last month, a 1.3% drop from a year ago. Sales of the Ford brand were down 1.5% to 241,639 cars and trucks sold while Lincoln saw a 3.7% jump to 9,174.

For the namesake brand, the Fusion led the way with 31,325 hit the streets in May. Sales of the Mustang reached 13,616 last month, a 55% increase over a year ago and good for the car’s best May since 2007. The company also noted the launch of the redesigned Ford Transit van last year has started paying off as sales of the company’s van lines had their best May since 1978.

Lincoln’s sales were bolstered by a 50.1% jump in sales for the Navigator, with 1,046 units sold. The brand’s top seller was the MKZ, which sold 3,296 last month.

Pictured: Silverado led sales for General Motors’ Chevrolet brand.

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