Auto registrations up over January 2007

Published Thursday, February 21, 2008

By Roy Eaton

Maybe it's because of higher gasoline prices. Maybe not.

Maybe it's because some interesting new models are in the showrooms. Maybe not.

But for whatever reason, Wise County new vehicle buyers are beginning new vehicle buyers in Wise County to discover cars again. That's not to say that trucks and sport utility vehicles aren't still number one in sales by a big margin - but cars are making a comeback in the local market.

Led by the new "crossover" models such as the GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave, the car side of the sales equation seems to be recovering. On the "pure" car side, sales in Wise County are led by the Chevrolet Impala, the Buick Lucerne and the Ford Mustang.

Wise County's three dealerships registered 360 new cars and trucks to individual and business buyers in January, compared to 277 in January of last year. January sales, however, are always affected by vehicles sold during the last week of December because paperwork doesn't arrive in the office of Tax Collector Monte Shaw until after the first of the year. Those vehicles consequently are shown as January sales.

Chevrolet was the leader in combined car and truck sales with 161 registrations in January, but on the "car only" side, Chevrolet barely edged out Pontiac and Buick for sales leadership and Ford wasn't far behind in fourth place.

James Wood Motors was the leading retailer of both new and used vehicles in January followed by Karl Klement Ford on the new vehicle side and Klement Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep in used vehicle sales.

On the national level, General Motors sales were up 2.6 percent in January while Ford, Toyota, Chrysler, Honda, Nissan and others posted declines. Total sales nationally were down 2.9 percent.

General Motors credited the new Chevrolet Malibu and Cadillac CTS as well as the new crossovers with the sales gains. Ford, whose sales were down 3.9 percent, saw some bright spots with good sales of the Ford Edge crossover and its Lincoln counterpart the MKX. Sales of the gas sipping Focus sedan were up 44 percent over last January. Sales were also higher for the mid-sized Ford Fusion.

"Our dealers really delivered this month, despite a challenging economic and competitive environment," said Ford's top sales executive Jim Farley. "It's not going to get any easier, at least for awhile."

Ford is counting on its next wave of new products including the all-new Ford F-150 pickup that will arrive this fall. Ford is also introducing a new van-type vehicle called the Flex and a new Lincoln luxury sedan this summer.

At Chrysler, sales of the mid-sized Dodge Avenger were up 42 percent over a year ago, but Chrysler sales overall were down because of lower sales of the Jeep and Chrysler brands.

In Wise County, the top selling vehicles continue to be the one-half and three-quarter ton pickups from Chevrolet, GMC, Ford and Dodge. Other top sellers included the Chevrolet Equinox and Tahoe, GMC Yukon and Yukon XL, Chevrolet Aveo and Malibu and the Pontiac Torrent and Grand Prix.

Most persons who borrowed money for their vehicle purchases did so through General Motors Acceptance Corporation. Other top lenders included the DATCU Credit Union, First State Banks, Ford Motor Credit and First Financial Banks.

Wise County auto registrations are tabulated in the office of Tax Collector Monte Shaw and include sales to individual and business customers but not sales to national car rental firms or governmental agencies.