Chrysler sales up 44%, GM down 6%

Chrysler Group — benefiting from strong results at the Jeep, Ram and Chrysler brands — said its U.S. sales rose 44 percent in January.

It was the 22nd consecutive monthly sales increase for Detroit's smallest automaker, and the 8th straight month sales advanced 20 percent or more.

The automaker said it sold 101,149 cars and light trucks in January month, up from 70,118 units during the same month one year ago.

"We started the new year with a bang," Reid Bigland, head of the Dodge brand and U.S. sales at Chrysler, said in a statement.

Jeep brand sales increased 37 percent in January, Chrysler said, with all five Jeep models posting double-digit sales gains. Chrysler brand sales rose 81 percent to 17,604 units, the automaker said.

Ram pickup sales climbed 47 percent last month.

General Motors Co. today reported total sales of 167,962 vehicles in the United States in January, down 6 percent compared with a very strong January 2011.