Chrysler Group LLC announced Friday that its domestic sales for February were up by four percent from last year.

The Auburn Hills, Mich. automaker said U.S. sales of 139,015 units for the month also amounted to the best February sales the auto maker has seen in half a decade.

"In spite of a cautious ramp up of some of our most popular products which limited inventory last month, we still managed to record our strongest February sales in five years," said Reid Bigland, Chrysler's head of U.S. sales, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Chrysler is the first major automaker to report February sales; its competitors are expected to make announcements later Friday.

Auto industry analysts predict overall industry sales will increase between 2.4 percent and 5.7 percent for February thanks to increased demand for pickups and a strengthening U.S. economy, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Chrysler brand Dodge reported a 30 percent gain in sales, including 7,720 Dart compact cars -- the most since the vehicle was launched last summer, the Free Press reported.

Sales of Dodge, Ram Truck and Fiat brands saw year-to-year increases, while the Chrysler and Jeep brands saw declines from a year before, down 7 percent and 16 percent, respectively, a report from Reuters said.

According to Reuters, Chrysler said Jeep vehicles have been in short supply because of the discontinuation of the Liberty last summer and the recent launch of the 2014 Grand Cherokee.

The successor to the Liberty, the 2014 Jeep Cherokee, will go on sale in May. 

Jeep and Dodge made news earlier this week when the brands secured the two lowest spots on Consumer Report's 2013 Annual Report Card, which analyses and reports on brands of vehicles for consumers. 

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