TORONTO -- Chrysler Canada laid claim to the title of the country's top selling automaker on Thursday as it reported a six per cent increase in sales for April compared with a year ago.
The automaker said it sold 27,212 vehicles in April, up from 25,745 in the same month last year, as strong truck and Jeep sales offset a sharp drop in car sales.
"This month's results marked the best April sales on record at Chrysler Canada in the last quarter of a century," said Dave Buckingham, Chrysler Canada's chief operating officer.
The automaker says its truck sales totalled 24,229, up 22 per cent from 19,865 a year ago.
Car sales at Chrysler plunged to 2,983 from 5,880 in April 2013.
Buckingham said sales were led by its Jeep and Ram nameplates.
Jeep sales gained 71 per cent compared with a year ago, while Ram sales were up five per cent.
For the year to date, Chrysler has sold 88,081 vehicles, up 5.2 per cent from the same point last year when it had sold 83,763.
Meanwhile, General Motors of Canada posted an overall 1.5 per cent increase to 25,435 vehicles sold in April, up from 25,071 a year ago.
But unlike Chrysler, it was helped by car sales which rose nearly six per cent to 8,757 compared with 8,277 a year ago. However, GM truck sales edged lower to 16,678 from 16,794.
Meanwhile, Honda Canada reported the combined sales of its Honda and Acura divisions totalled 15,667 for the month, up two per cent from 15,343 a year ago.
The increase came as Honda sales were up three per cent at 13,687, while Acura sales in April slipped five per cent to 1,980.
