Chrysler 1996 Sales Break Record Sales Up 13 Percent Over 1995

Chrysler Corp. easily broke its U.S. sales record last year with a 13 percent gain over 1995, while General Motors Corp. posted a 3 percent decline as many of its oldest products ended their run.

Chrysler said Friday that the 2.45 million cars and light trucks it sold surpassed the company’s previous high of 2.21 million in 1988. Chrysler’s 1995 sales were 2.16 million.

GM sold 4.7 million light vehicles last year, down from 4.8 million in 1995. GM was hampered by an unusually high number of new product launches, some of which have been slower than expected, resulting in lost production. The world’s largest automaker also lost production in the fourth quarter from a series of contract-related strikes.

Among the major Japanese automakers that reported Friday, Nissan’s U.S. sales declined 2 percent last year while Toyota’s increased 6 percent on the strength of a 26 percent rise in truck sales.

Ford Motor Co. and Honda will report their sales figures Monday.

December sales at Chrysler, the No. 3 domestic automaker, rose just 1 percent over year-ago levels, with flat truck sales - another sign of weakness following a soft November for the Big Three automakers.

Chrysler’s car sales were up 4 percent in December, based on the daily sales rate. That increase was due in part to year-end incentives used to sell leftover 1996 models.

GM’s December sales declined 14 percent, with a nearly 16 percent drop in truck sales and a 13 percent decline in cars.

Analyst David Andrea of Roney & Co. said the soft truck sales at year’s end were not cause for concern. November and December sales often fluctuate from year to year because of wild variations in rebates, discount financing and fleet sales.

“That doesn’t seem too out of line from what expectations were,” Andrea said. “Nobody expects the market to fall off dramatically this year, but certainly there’s going to be some softness.”

Chrysler continued to prosper in 1996 with a strong-selling line of pickups, sport utility vehicles and minivans. The company’s car sales were up 5 percent in 1996, also strong in light of the generally soft market for cars domestically.