(April 2, 2014) U.S. auto sales in March climbed 5.7 percent — topping analyst projections of a 2 percent bump — as consumers returned to thawing dealerships after an abnormally chilly start to the year.

Overall automakers sold nearly 1.54 million vehicles as the seasonal selling rate hit 16.4 million, 1.1 million higher than last March. Sales of mid-size cars, sport-utility vehicles and trucks drove auto sales, particularly in the latter half of the month, when temperatures warmed and consumers came back to dealerships.

Among major automakers, Chrysler Group led the advances with a 13 percent rise, followed by Nissan Motor Co.’s 8 percent gain. Ford Motor Co. was up 3 percent, General Motors advanced 4 percent and Toyota Motor Corp. chalked up a 5 percent increase in recording their first increases of the year.

Dealers began tracking more showroom traffic and on their lots in the second half of  the month as temperatures climbed and snow began melting in more populated pockets of the country, automakers said.

GM — ending three consecutive months of sales declines in the United States — said volume rose 3 percent at Chevrolet, 7 percent at GMC and 13 percent at Buick. Cadillac’s deliveries slid 6 percent.

Ford Motor said its retail volume rose 3 percent to 166,030 units. Demand increased 3 percent at the Ford division and 31 percent at Lincoln. Fusion deliveries hit an all-time record of 32,963, Ford said. Sales of the F-series pickup increased 5 percent to 70,940.

The biggest mass-market gainer was Chrysler Group. Sales of Chrysler vehicles jumped 13 percent to 193,915, led by 13,796 sales of its new Jeep Cherokee and a 26 percent sales boost for its Ram pickups, to 42,532. Ram has benefitted in part because of incentives that are higher than those at rivals Ford and General Motors.

Toyota Motor Corp. sales were up 4.9 percent to 215,348; Toyota will release more details of its results Tuesday afternoon.

Volkswagen of America said March sales totaled 36,717, down 2.6 percent as only the Jetta, Passat and Routan fared better than they did last March.

Sources: Auto manufacturers, Automotive News, Detroit News