• by Karl Greenberg , May 3, 2007

Gasoline prices are heading up, and sales of smaller SUVs, fuel-efficient crossovers and small cars are rising as well. Thanks to April promotions and redesigned vehicles, April sales were strong for crossovers, small cars, minivans and at least one pickup truck.

Toyota posted a 3.7% increase in sales for its Lexus, Toyota and Scion vehicles versus April last year. Toyota divisional sales were up 2.3%, and Lexus was up 14.1% for the month. Toyota's hybrid gas/electric Prius car--which benefited from incentives last month--posted its best-ever month with sales up 71.8%, per Toyota. Toyota division's smallest car, Yaris, a subcompact launched a year ago, accounted for 7,232 units sold last month.

Honda's subcompact Fit car constituted sales of 3,958 units last month. The car--which, like Toyota's Yaris, went on sale last April--has had five months of sales increases. Honda's CR-V compact SUV, launched as a redesign, sold 17,379 units, up 39.4%. The Civic is up a percentage as well versus last April. Honda Division year-to-date sales were up 3.4%, with 421,773 units sold.

Toyota Division's light truck sales were driven by the RAV4 compact SUV, whose 14,495 sales reflected a 13.3% increase versus the same period last year. Meanwhile, Toyota's redesigned Tundra is trumping the older version with April sales of 14,200, an increase of 74.1%.

Among domestics, Ford saw sales down 13% for the month, although the new Edge crossover and Ford's trio of mid-sized cars--Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ--are selling strongly. Ford sold 9,134 Edge's and 2,901 of the Lincoln version, called MKX. Sales of Ford's Fusion car are up 22% year-to-date, although sales slipped in April, versus last April.

Chrysler Group sales are up 2% compared to April 2006 with 190,095 vehicles sold and sales driven by Jeep Wrangler, the new Jeep Patriot, which accounted for 10,776 (a 75% increase versus the month last year) and 2,904 units, respectively.

Last month, Chrysler ran a promotion for its Town and Country and Caravan minivans, which increased sales of the vehicles by 24%, per the company.

April sales for Nissan dropped 11.1% last month, with Nissan sales off 14.0%, while Nissan's luxury division Infiniti saw sales increase 12.%.

Hyundai Motor America sales were down 4.6% from record sales last April.

Among luxury brands, both Audi of America and Mercedes-Benz are posting strong sales for the month, giving them record years so far. Audi sold 8,106 vehicles last month, a record for April and a 9.4% increase versus last year. For the year, sales of Audi--which is preparing a new brand campaign as it launches its new TT roadster--are up 15.2% over last year's sales volume.

Mercedes-Benz posted sales of 20,895, which the company says is its second-best April and best-ever year-to-date, with 76,880 new vehicles for 2007--up 6% versus the period last year. Sales were driven by Mercedes' new C-Class, up over 27% versus last year.