Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Chrysler LLC says its U.S. sales fell 47% in May, but the company says being under bankruptcy protection did little to deter customers from purchasing its vehicles.

Auburn Hills-based Chrysler said Tuesday it sold 79,010 cars and light trucks last month. The company says its sales were pulled lower because it didn't sell any cars in May to fleet buyers like rental car companies, but its retail sales to individual buyers were the best they've been all year.

With 789 dealers set to stop selling the company's cars next week, many of those purchases were fueled by deep discounts. Chrysler had the highest average incentive among automakers last month — $4,159 per vehicle, according to Edmunds.com.

General Motors' U.S. sales in May fell 30% from a year ago, but they improved 11% from April.

Ford posted better results.