(April 1, 2011) Ford outsold General Motors in March for only the second time since 1998 in a month that saw industry sales up by a solid 17 percent despite worries over gas prices and shortages created by the Japanese earthquake.

Ford sold 212,295 vehicles in March topping GM by 5,674 units.

Ford outsold GM in February 2010 by 471 vehicles. In July 1998 Ford racked up an 83,883 advantage over a General Motors that was hobbled by a strike of major supplier Delphi.

Ford's March sales were up 16 percent over March 2010 and are up 12 percent for the first three months of 2011. GM's sales were up 10 percent over the same month last year and are up a solid 25 percent in 2011.

Ford's March results were driven by higher fleet sales, strong F-Series demand and record monthly sales of the Fusion and Escape. Fiesta sales reached 9,787, up 56 percent over February, the automaker said.

The Ford division posted a 28 percent jump in sales, offsetting a 2 percent decline in volume at Lincoln. Ford's F-Series truck lineup — featuring more fuel efficient powertrains for 2011 — posted sales of 53,272, up 25 percent compared to a year ago.

GM, which outperformed the overall U.S. market in January and February, is still ahead of Ford in year-to-date sales by more than 97,000 units. It has been the U.S. sales leader on an annual basis since 1931.

New models such as the Chevrolet Cruze and healthy demand for fuel efficient cars and crossovers helped GM post a 10 percent gain in March sales.

Every major automaker showed gains compared to March 2011 with the exception of Toyota, which was down 6 percent with sales of 155,540. For the year, Toyota is up 13 percent.

Year over year gains at other automakers included: Chrysler, 31 percent; Honda, 24 percent; Nissan, 27 percent; Hyundai Group (including Kia), 37 percent; Volkswagen, 20 percent; BMW, percent; Daimler (including Mercedes-Benz), 11 percent; Subaru, 13 percent; and Mazda, 33 percent.

While March turned out to be a solid month, auto analysts are predicting much tougher times in April because of a shortage of inventory due to the Japanese problems and a fall-off in truck and SUV sales because of rapidly increasing gas prices.

GM, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and other automakers have idled plants and cut output because of parts shortages in Japan. The unplanned reduction in car and light truck output and supply is expected to prompt Japanese automakers to reduce fleet sales and redirect inventory to retail sales

Sources: News reports, Automotive News