Cruze Sales Decline in February

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Sales of General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet Cruze were down 16.2% in February from a year earlier, the automaker reports this morning. Nationwide, 18,301 units of the Lordstown-built model were sold.

Of the Big Three American automakers, GM and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles both reported February sales increases, while Ford Motor Co. announced that its sales had dropped 2% from the same month in 2014.

GM reports that its February sales rose 4.2% over the same month last year with 231,378 cars and trucks sold. Chevrolet’s best-selling vehicle was the Silverado pickup truck, which sold 45,395 units, a 24.1% increase from February 2013. Overall, sales for Chevy totaled 159,788 units last month, a 3.8% increase over the same period a year ago.

The only other GM brand to report an increase in sales was GMC, which saw a 19.3% increase over February 2014 to 42,433 trucks and sport utility vehicles sold. The Sierra sold the most among the brand’s seven models with 15,157 sold.

Sales of the Cadillac brand dropped 12.6% last month to 11,739 units moved, while Buick’s sales fell 9.2% to 17,418 cars and SUVs. The best-selling vehicles for the two brands respectively were the SRX crossover, 3,809 sold, and Encore, 4,921.

Fiat Chrysler reports a 6% increase in sales for February over a year earlier. The company, which owns Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram, says it’s the 59th consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases.

Chrysler’s February sales rose 13% over a year earlier to 28,502 with the 200 model selling 15,805 cars across the country. Sales of Jeeps reached 55,642 in February, a 21% increase from the same month in 2014. The Cherokee was the off-road brand’s best selling vehicle with 14,026 sold. For the Ram truck line, sales in February jumped 12% from a year earlier with 33,991 trucks sold. The only American brand in the company to see a sales decrease was Dodge, whose sales fell 15% in February with 42,115 sold. The Charger was the best-selling car for Dodge with 10,365 cars sold last month, a 16% increase over the same month last year.

Sales for Ford in February dropped 2% from a year earlier, as 180,383 new cars and trucks were sold between its two brands, Ford and Lincoln. Year-to-date sales for the company are up 5.9% over 2014, however, with 358,734 cars and trucks sold this year.

All Ford cars except for the Mustang had lower sales last month than the same period in 2014. The Fusion was the brand’s best-selling car with 22,732 units, a 4.6% drop from February 2014. Ford’s F-Series trucks sold 55,236, a 1.2% decrease from the same month last year. In total, the Ford brand’s sales decreased 1.7% from February 2014 to 174,219 cars and trucks.

Lincoln sales fell to 6,164 in February, a 7.5% decrease from the same month a year earlier. All models except the Navigator SUV and the MKC crossover saw sales drop by at least 27.5%. The MKC, which was launched in June, was the brand’s top seller, with 1,558 leaving showrooms last month.

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