Auto industry on road to recovery but pace slows

DETROIT — The U.S. auto industry stayed on the road to recovery in April, but it eased up on the gas pedal a bit.

Ford Motor Co. saw last month's sales rise 25 percent from a year earlier, while General Motors Co. climbed 6.4 percent. Sales for Toyota Motor Corp., which has grappled with a string of safety recalls, rose 24 percent.

Even Chrysler, which has struggled much of the year, reported a 25 percent sales increase, while Honda, Hyundai, Subaru and others also continued to see gains.

But the industry overall likely won't be able to maintain the pace seen in March, when big sales promotions led by Toyota fueled higher sales. The Japanese automaker needed to lure buyers after suffering a series of safety recalls beginning last fall.

As buyers' expectations for even better deals grew, demand last month slipped from March and some automakers eased up on promotions.

Auto research website Edmunds.com says incentives fell an average of 5 percent in April as the luster wore off some of the deals and automakers tried to pull back on spending. But there were still were good bargains. Honda Motor Co. spent a record $1,787 per vehicle, while Toyota spent $2,498, down $245 from record-high levels in March. GM spent $3,273 per vehicle, although that was skewed by high incentives on the brands it is discontinuing.

GM said it spent $100 less per vehicle in April than in March.

"We'll be judicious with our incentives," said Steve Carlisle, GM's new vice president of sales. "We'll be competitive but not foolish."

Toyota used incentives to continue to spur demand as it distanced itself from safety recalls involving unintended acceleration. But sales slowed 16 percent compared with a strong March.

The Japanese automaker said its April sales were propelled by some of the vehicles involved in previous recalls like the Corolla compact, Prius hybrid and RAV4 small crossover vehicle.

Honda's sales, including the Honda and Acura brands, rose 12.5 percent over April of last year.

Chrysler reported its first double-digit sales gain in nearly five years, led by a minivan promotion that drove sales up 68 percent. It saw sales surge for its Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger midsize sedans.

But its Ram pickup truck sales dropped a troubling 20 percent, even as main competitors GM and Ford reported rising pickup sales.