Ford outsells GM in March U.S. sales

     CHICAGO, April 1 (Xinhua)-- Ford¹ 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 dominant² 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 U.S. 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.（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

1 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

2 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。