Chrysler's U.S. sales up 9 percent, besting forecasts

DETROIT (Reuters) - Chrysler Group on Tuesday reported a 9 percent gain in U.S. auto sales for June, beating forecasts for a month expected to show an industrywide decrease from a year earlier.

Chrysler, a unit of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles , showed a 28 percent gain for Jeep, its biggest brand by sales, and a 12 percent increase for its Ram pickup trucks.

Chrysler is the fourth-largest automaker by U.S. sales, behind General Motors Co , Ford Motor Co and Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T>. Those automakers will report U.S. June sales later on Tuesday.

Chrysler's U.S. sales for June were 171,086, about 5,000 more than the average forecast of nine industry analysts.

June sales for the U.S. market overall are expected to fall about 3 percent, but analysts say that is due to two fewer selling days than a year earlier rather than an indication of a weaker new-vehicle market.

(Reporting by Bernie Woodall; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)