Weather, incentives help lift March U.S. auto sales

DETROIT/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - U.S. auto sales inched up more than expected in March after two months when weather reduced demand, and at least two auto industry executives said a more robust sales rebound could come in April.

Ford Motor Co reported a 3 percent rise in U.S. sales; Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> a 5 percent rise; and Chrysler Group, a unit of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles , a 13 percent increase from a year ago. All three narrowly beat expectations by industry research firm Edmunds.com.

Nissan Motor Co <7201.T> also beat expectations, selling 149,136 vehicles in the month, up 8 percent.

Cold weather and snow kept many consumers away from dealer showrooms in early March, but the second half of the month showed promise that April will be a strong sales month, said sales executives from Ford and Toyota.

Ford's vice president of U.S. sales John Felice said the sales momentum in late March shows "the trend positive heading into April."

Bill Fay, general manager for Toyota brand U.S. sales, said,

"We're optimistic that momentum will spring us in into April."

U.S. auto sales leader General Motors Co delayed until late Tuesday afternoon its March U.S. sales statement because of computer glitches. The statement had been scheduled to be released at 9:30 a.m. (1330 GMT).

Industry research firm Edmunds.com forecast GM's U.S. sales for March rose 0.5 percent.

Most of the attention on GM is focused on Chief Executive Mary Barra's appearance Tuesday at a Congressional hearing on the company's slow response to defective ignition switches, blamed for at least 13 deaths.

Alec Gutierrez, analyst with industry research firm Kelley Blue Book, said it was too early to tell if GM's recall crisis has hurt GM sales, but says that it is possible that GM buyers may stray to other automakers soon.

"I wouldn't be surprised to see some conquest activity maybe in April or May," said Gutierrez.

GM shares were up 1.3 percent at $34.87 in afternoon trading, while Ford shares added 5 percent to $16.37. The wider S&P 500 index was barely changed, up 0.4 percent.

Forty analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect an annualized selling rate of 15.8 million vehicles, or about a 2 percent increase in sales from last March. LMC Automotive two weeks ago lowered its 2014 U.S. sales forecast to 16.1 million from 16.2 million vehicles.

BOOST FROM INCENTIVES

Auto sales are an early indicator of U.S. consumer demand for big-ticket items that comes right at the start of a new month, before government reports on retail sales and durable goods. The economy sagged in the first two months of year, as did auto sales, amid massive snowstorms over much of the United States, but there were signs of a pickup since then.

The boost in sales may be linked to higher incentives by automakers in March, said Larry Dominique, executive vice president at industry researcher TrueCar. He said incentives rose 8 percent to an average $2,800 per new vehicle sale.

Automakers and dealers offer incentives, ranging from discounts to low interest rates, to entice consumers to buy.

Ford, No. 2 in U.S. sales behind GM, said its F-Series pickup truck sales rose 5 percent to about 71,000 in March and its Fusion sedan sales rose 9 percent to nearly 33,000.

Chrysler, No. 4 in the U.S. market, relied on hefty sales of its Ram trucks and Jeep Cherokee SUV, which both showed 26 percent sales jumps from a year ago.

Honda Motor Co <7267.T>, the fifth-largest automaker in U.S. auto sales, will report later on Tuesday.

Hyundai Motor Co <005380.KS> U.S. sales fell 2 percent in March to 67,005 vehicles. Its sister company Kia Motors Corp <000270.KS> increased U.S. sales 11.5 percent to 54,777 vehicles.

BMW said its March sales rose 8 percent to 35,762 vehicles, despite a drop of 40 percent by its MINI brand. The BMW brand itself saw sales rise 19 percent to 32,107 vehicles.

Subaru, a division of Fuji Heavy Industries <7270.T>, said its March sales rose 21 percent to 36,701, led by a 53 percent rise for its best-selling vehicle in the U.S. market, the Forester crossover vehicle.

Volkswagen AG's U.S. auto sales fell 3 percent to 36,717 vehicles in March. Sales of its best-selling cars, the Jetta and the Passat, rose 5 percent and 16 percent, respectively.

Mazda Motor Corp <7261.T> March sales rose 9 percent to 34,903 vehicles, the company's best March U.S. sales since 2007.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp <7211.T> had its best sales month since August 2008 as U.S. sales rose 70 percent to 8,996 vehicles.

(Reporting by Bernie Woodall; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Nick Zieminski)