U.S. pickup truck sales boomed in April, contributing to double-digit sales gains at Detroit auto makers as improving home construction spurred new-vehicle purchases by contractors and tradesmen.
Chrysler Group LLC said Wednesday that sales of its Ram pickups rose 49% in April from a year earlier, while Ford Motor Co. said its F-series truck sales jumped 24%. At General Motors Co., combined sales of its Silverado and GMC Sierra climbed 23%.
Overall, industry sales for April rose 8.5% from a year earlier to 1.285 million cars and light trucks, according to researcher Autodata Corp.
For the Detroit auto makers, a resurgence in demand for trucks especially among contractors in the home building industry has been long-awaited. Full-size pickups are big moneymakers for the companies, producing margins that can be as much as 10 times that of a sedan, some analysts estimate.
Rich Savino, the owner of All American Ford in Old Bridge Township, N.J., said his dealership’s F-series truck sales are up a “spectacular” 74% this year through April, with tradesmen replacing old trucks as new home developments pop up.