Ford outsells GM in March US sales

Ford Motor Co. outsold General Motors Co. last month for only the second time since 1998, as higher gasoline prices drove up demand for smaller and more fuel- efficient vehicles, such as the Fiesta subcompact and Explorer SUV.

The company said on Friday that it sold 212,777 cars and trucks in March, up 19.2 percent from a year earlier, which is 6,100 more than its Detroit rival, while GM remained the dominant seller for the first quarter, 2011 with 592,545 vehicles sold compared with Ford's 496,720 sales.

Consumers'increasing interest in smaller and more fuel- efficient vehicle helped push sales up for Ford, as US gas prices jumped 25.1 cents per gallon in the past month.

Ford sold more than 12,000 of the new Explorers in March, up 111 percent over a year ago, and the new Fiesta subcompact saw sales jump 56 percent from February.