Sales of Jeeps assembled in Belvidere climb

BELVIDERE, Ill. (AP) — Sales of cars and SUVs assembled at Chrysler’s plant in Belvidere climbed to more than 19,700 last month despite a big drop in the number of Dodge Darts that were sold.

The total U.S. dealership sales of the Dodge Dart, Jeep Compass and Jeep Patriot were 7.5 percent — or more than 1,500 — higher than April of last year, the Rockford Register Star reports.

The Jeep vehicles did much better than the Dodge Dart. Sales of the Patriot jumped 44 percent and the sales of the Compass assembled at the plant climbed 20 percent.

Sales of the Dart fell 24 percent compared to the previous April. Poor Dart sales prompted Chrysler Group LLC to temporarily lay off 325 workers several weeks ago.