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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

SUV gains drive climb in auto sales

Tom Krisher Associated Press

DETROIT – In April 2014, the compact Chevrolet Cruze outsold the Equinox midsize SUV by more than a thousand vehicles. A year later, the Equinox trounced the Cruze by nearly 8,000 in sales.

Those numbers pretty much sum up the shift in attitude among U.S. auto buyers: As they increasingly fall in love with SUVs, small and midsize cars are having a harder time getting a date.

SUVs and trucks powered U.S. auto sales to a 4.6 percent gain last month, with several automakers reporting their strongest April sales ever. The stylish and practical new SUVs are pulling people away from cars, forcing automakers to discount sedans and even furlough workers to control growing inventories.

A big drop in gas prices, to an average of $2.60 a gallon from $3.69 a year ago, also works in favor of SUVs.

The Equinox posted a 42 percent sales increase to almost 29,000 in April, while Cruze sales fell nearly 4 percent to just under 21,000. Both vehicles are made by General Motors.

The trend played out in other automakers’ results. Ford’s revamped midsize Edge SUV posted a 78 percent gain while Focus compact sales fell 5 percent. Honda’s CR-V, the top-selling SUV, posted a 3 percent gain to more than 29,000, outselling the midsize Accord sedan, which saw sales drop 20 percent.

“The demand for crossover SUVs is off the charts,” said Bill Fay, a group vice president at Toyota, which posted record April sales of the RAV4 and Highlander SUVs. Still, loyal followers weren’t so quick to abandon Toyota’s bread-and-butter vehicles. Sales of the Corolla compact grew 10 percent, and even though Camry midsize car sales fell from last April, it remained the top-selling car in America.

Overall, light trucks including SUVs accounted for 54 percent of sales in April, with cars at 46 percent, according to Autodata Corp.