Wise auto registrations up in October over '06

Published Thursday, November 15, 2007

By Roy Eaton

Wise County new vehicle registrations soared by more than 100 units in October, helped by exceptionally strong sales of the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL. All GM full-size sport utility vehicles had zero percent interest loans for the entire month.

If motorists are unusually concerned about high gasoline prices, it's not showing in Wise County because sport utility and pickup truck sales remain strong. Nationally, Chevrolet Suburban sales were up 16.5 percent in October while GMC Yukon sales rose 22.1 percent.

GMC's new cross-over sport utility vehicles are also doing well nationally, but local sales in October were constrained by low inventories, particularly for the Buick Enclave. GM said the Enclave shortage was nationwide with only a 20-day supply. A 60-day supply of a vehicle is considered optimal.

Cadillac, which isn't sold in Wise County, also had an outstanding month with sales up nearly 20 percent from last year. Cadillac's strength came from the all-new CTS which saw sales rise 74.5 percent. Although not sold in Wise County, Decatur GM dealer James Wood has a Cadillac franchise in Denton.

Ford sales were down nationally from October of last year although Ford intentionally cut more than 12,000 vehicles from its sales to daily rental companies. Year-to-date, Ford said its sales to daily rental companies were 142,000 units lower than the same period of last year.

The all-new Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX crossovers continue to sell very well and the redesigned Ford Escape posted double-digit increases compared with a year ago. Lincoln posted a 17 percent sales increase, marking the 13th straight month of higher sales.

Chrysler sales were down 9 percent in October, but sales of the new Chrysler Sebring sedan were up 138 percent over last year - an increase that some analysts said was because of higher sales to national car rental firms.

The Chrysler Aspen, Jeep Wrangler and Dodge Nitro also posted sales increases in October.

Aside from the GM full-size sport utilities, other top sellers in Wise County in October included the Chevrolet Corvette and Impala, Pontiac G5 and Ford Mustang along with one-half, three-quarter and one-ton crew cab pickups from Ford, Dodge, Chevrolet and GMC.

James Wood Motors was the leading retailer of both new and used vehicles in October with Karl Klement Ford coming in second in new vehicle sales and Klement Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep in second place in used car and truck sales.

Top lenders for new and used vehicle purchases were GMAC, First State Banks, DATCU Credit Union, DaimlerChrysler Credit, Ford Motor Credit and Community Bank in Bridgeport.

Wise County new vehicle registrations are compiled by the Messenger from the office of Tax Collector Monte Shaw and include sales to individual and business customers but not those sales to major car rental firms, government agencies or to the dealerships' own daily rental fleets.