Chrysler US sales up 20 percent in July, best performance for the month in 9 years

Chrysler says its U.S. sales rose 20 percent in July from a year ago, its best performance for the month in nine years.

The automaker said Friday that Jeep sales surged 41 percent. That's the best July performance for the brand ever.

Chrysler Group LLC, now part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, said Ram pickup truck sales climbed 14 percent. The Fiat, Dodge and Chrysler brands also posted sales increases for the month.

This is Chrysler's 52nd straight month of year-over-year sales gains.

Last month Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Chrysler Group announced it was recalling older-model Jeep SUVs to fix a problem with ignition switches. It has now recalled more than 1.7 million vehicles for ignition-switch problems. General Motors has come under fire for bungling its own ignition-switch recall.