Fiat Chrysler U.S. auto sales in March meet expectations

It was the 60th consecutive month of year-to-year gains for the company, dating to March 2010.

FCA, the first of the major automakers to report monthly sales on Wednesday, said its Jeep and Chrysler brands had double-digit gains, while the Dodge and FIAT (F.IT)brands fell from a year earlier. Ram sales were flat.

The company sold 197,261 vehicles in March, compared with 193,915 a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Reuters estimated automakers sold just over 1.5 million cars in March, slightly below last year's 1,537,288. They estimated the annualized sales rate in March at a robust 16.8 million.

U.S. consumer confidence rebounded sharply in March, above economists' expectations, according to the Conference Board, as harsh winter weather began to ease across much of the country.

That higher confidence was reflected in higher vehicle transaction prices, according to TrueCar Inc . The online consumer marketplace estimated the average price of a new vehicle in March rose to $32,201, up 2.1 percent from a year earlier.

Industry analyst Kelley Blue Book said strong demand for pickup trucks and utility vehicles continued to drive transaction prices higher.

(Reporting by Paul Lienert, Bernie Woodall and Ben Klayman in Detroit and Joe White in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)