Chrysler saw its sales increase 25 percent last month, for its best year-over-year performance in “almost five years,” according to the company. On the other hand, sales improved only 3 percent compared to last March’s results and only barely met Chrysler’s 95k minimum sales goal (at 95,703 units). Still, this is the best sales news the company has had since well before emerging from bankruptcy. For those who think Chrysler has a shot at survival, this is the first evidence in a long time that actually supports their optimism.

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Back in October, GM’s then-CEO Fritz Henderson announced that GM would make a stand on market share, refusing to allow its share of the US market to slip below 29 percent. Oh wait, that was Gary Cowger’s campaign of 2003, which saw GM execs wearing symbolic “29” lapel pins. Where Henderson actually drew GM’s market share line in the sand six months ago was

At this point about 19 percent… We’ll finalize that, but I’m not interested in going down from that

And according to the Detroit Free Press, GM actually achieved that goal in December, logging a 21 percent share based on Autodata findings. Unfortunately, things have been slip-sliding ever since. In February, GM’s share fell to 18.1 percent, and last month it fell even further, to 17.6 percent.

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US-market details about the long-awaited 2010 Saab 9-5 are starting to emerge, and they’re painting a bit of a frightening picture for the struggling entry-luxe brand. In order to capitalize on the desperation of Saab fans who nearly saw their beloved brand give up the ghost several times in the last year, Saab is releasing the 2010 9-5 in Aero spec only until the 2011 model year begins. Did we mention that, including destination charges, the 300 hp AWD flagship model will get you only ten bucks change for your $50k check?

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Edmunds [via Earth Times] has released its monthly “True Cost of Incentives” list, and GM tops the list, followed closely by Chrysler and Ford. Good thing Sergio Marchionne narrowly avoided “getting pulled into an incentive war.” That Chrysler’s sales couldn’t beat last March’s numbers even with these incentives tells you everything you need to know about the state of play in Auburn Hills. Oh, and how is GM’s incentive “leadership” supposed to jive with marketing boss Susan Docherty’s insistence [via the WSJ [sub]] that GM is reigning in its incentives? Who knows. Meanwhile, Ford’s impressive 2010 numbers have to be taken with a grain of salt in light of the Blue Oval’s continuing dependence on spiffs and fleet sales (speaking of which, fleet numbers are up 64 percent at GM, and Ford had a 30 percent-ish fleet mix in March[ via FT]). In fact, Toyota’s much-vaunted move towards incentives seems to not only have helped its sales, it may have also scared Detroit back into some nasty old habits.

Honda’s sales bounced 22 percent, as the normally incentive-adverse firm broke out financing, cashback and lease deals to keep up with Toyota and GM’s incentive war. Accord and Civic were 23 and 4 percent, with 29,120 and 22,463 units respectively. Odyssey, Pilot and CR-V all broke the 10k mark, with Pilot growing sales the most (48 percent). Fit was down slightly from last March’s recession-fueled sales, managing only 4,670 units. The Insight sold a pathetic 1,652 units.

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Hyundai and KIA combined for an 18 percent sales increase last month, moving 77,524 units between the two brands. Hyundai saw less dramatic increases, up “only” 15.4 percent over last March. Accent (4,233) and Elantra  (8,225) sales were weak compared to last March’s recession fever, but big jumps in Sonata (18,935), Santa Fe (9,548) and Tucson (3,084) volumes kept the momentum going. Sorento (9,156) and Soul (5,106) led KIA’s volume, with Forte (4,830) softening and Optima (3,633) actually gaining. Meanwhile, the fact that other brands were binging on incentives, trying to meet the Koreans on value, means this performance is especially impressive. At least it will be when we have March’s incentive numbers. Full sales numbers after the jump.

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March is shaping up to be the biggest month in car sales since Cash for Clunkers ended, and Ford isn’t being left behind [official release in PDF format here]. The firm’s sales rose 43 percent last month, matching February’s performance and setting another record for sales since 1984. Ford brand sales led the way with a 45.6 percent increase, while Lincoln climbed 18.9 percent and Mercury rose 26.2 percent. Focus hit 19,500 units, a 57.5 percent increase, while Fusion sales grew 79 percent to 22,773 units, an all-time record for the nameplate. Escape flirted with the 20k mark as well at 19,182, while F-Series hit 42,514, a 30 percent increase. Explorer even saw a 78 percent bump to 5,907, and a 53 percent bump in fleet sales sent over 10,000 Econolines out the door. Lincoln sold 450 more MKZs than it did last March, otherwise only the Town Car and Navigator were up (modestly). Milan carried the Mercury brand, up 71 percent to 3,897 units. Grand Marquis and Mariner sold 3,532 and 2,482 respectively. Though Ford had a great month sales-wise, its luxury brand situation continues to be one hot, steaming mess.

An RL Polk study, reported in the Detroit Free Press, reveals that Americans scrapped 1.2m more vehicles than they bought in the 15 months ending in September 2009. 14.8m vehicles were scrapped in that time period, compared to 13.6 new registrations, suggesting that new car sales could be heading towards an upswing. And with an average fleet age of 10.2 years (the highest in 14 years), common sense seems to indicate that the rebound should happen soon. Polk VP Lonnie Miller explains:

It foreshadows what may be pentup demand. The assumption is that those vehicles have to be replaced.

But is it that simple? Even Miller admits that a number of factors might cause scrappage to exceed new registration for the immediate future.

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We recently asked our Best and Brightest to show us their favorite car ads of all time, and we all wasted the rest of the day staring at old Youtube clips of some of the best auto spots of all time. But what was the best car ad to come out in 2009? According to Automotive News [sub], Nielsen IAG Automotive has awarded this Kia Soul ad the prize of “Automotive Ad of the Year for effectiveness” for 2009. But was it really the best? Be sure to include your own nominations for the best car ad of ’09 in your comments.

I had the opportunity to visit with the Cadillac folks at a Pre-New York Auto Show Reception in West Village. It was a tasty cocktail gig with a trio of V-series models (CTS Sedan, Wagon and Coupe) available for closer inspection.  Though nobody actually sat in them.  But that’s not the point: marketing and re-branding the product was the topic of conversation.

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Well, our questions have been answered, and the first US-market pure electric vehicle, the Nissan Leaf, will be sold well under its Japanese-market price of $38k-$44k, coming in at $32,780. After a $7,500 federal tax break that brings the price to $25,280, and a California and Georgia tax break of another $5,000 will bring it within spitting distance of $20k (a $1,500 credit is available in Oregon). Full Nissan release after the jump.

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Buick’s LaCrosse is dropping its little-loved 3.0 V6 base engine in favor GM’s direct-injected 2.4 liter four-banger, probably so it can use the magic term “3o MPG highway” in forthcoming marketing. The downsides? You mean, besides having to move over 4,000 lbs with a 182 hp, 172 lb-ft engine (compared to the 3.0’s 255 hp, 217 lb-ft)? (Read More…)

I conduct a car reliability survey at TrueDelta.com. Since we promptly update our results four times a year, we can report on new models ahead of anyone else. Last year, we announced that the 2009 Jaguar XF was faring poorly. This provoked a blistering backlash from owners at a particular Jaguar forum. In the end, threads on reliability were deleted and future ones all but banned in the interest of preserving what remained of the UK auto industry.

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We knew that production of HUMMER H3 and H3Ts was continuing, as an unnamed fleet buyer has ordered the final batch of 849 units from GM’s Shreveport plant, but that’s not the only Zombie nameplate that GM just can’t seem to kill. Automotive News [sub] reports that 1,037 Saturn Outlooks were built last month “to utilize existing materials” according to GM spokesfolks. According to production stats published at GMI, about 3,000 Saturn Vues were also built in February at GM’s Ramos Arizpe plant in Mexico. Is GM having brand separation anxiety, or are zombie car nameplates as hard to kill as their undead namesakes?

Sales recently began in India for Ford’s “all new” Figo. The launch of the Figo, a five-door sedan/hatchback, was a supposed to be a big deal. It is Ford’s first car designed specifically for the Indian market, and it was introduced by Mullaly himself in India last September. It’s built in Ford’s refurbished Chennai plant, where production started up in early February after a $500 million investment. In addition to producing cars for the local market, where sales are booming and compact cars, the so-called Sub B segment, make up 70% of the sales volume, Ford intends for the Chennai plant to be a supply hub for their Asia, Pacific and Africa operations.

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