Sales of Cobalts zoom in Valley

By Don Shilling

The Cobalt was the area’s top-selling car for the first time in 12 months.

Local car buyers are flocking to the Chevrolet Cobalt.

The locally made car was the top-selling vehicle in the Mahoning Valley in June, and it topped the next-best seller by nearly 4-to-1.

Area dealers sold 201 Cobalts last month, which is a strong number when car sales are down in general. The second-best model was the Ford F-150, which had just 55 sales.

As a small car, the Cobalt is benefiting as $4-a-gallon gas changes people’s buying habits, said Mike Hudock, general manager of Stadium GM Superstore in Salem.

“Everybody is switching to a smaller car,” he said.

Hudock added that Cobalt sales took off the last week in June when General Motors offered zero percent financing for 72 months on most of its models.

It’s been a year since the Cobalt was the best-selling vehicle in the area. In June 2007, dealers sold 219 Cobalts, but overall sales were higher in that month. The No. 2 vehicle that month, the Chevrolet Impala, notched 158 sales.

The Cobalt normally ranks between second and fifth in local sales.

Hudock said used-car buyers also are flocking to the Cobalt, as well as the previous model that was made at GM’s Lordstown complex, the Chevrolet Cavalier.

Small cars are in such demand that prices at auctions are soaring, he said. For example, wholesale prices for 2006 Cobalts have increased between $1,000 and $1,500 in the past six months, he said.

On the other hand, there is a glut of sport-utility vehicles and full-size pickup trucks, he said. Car buyers are trading them in, but these models are harder to sell on dealer lots and are fetching much smaller prices at auction, he said.

The Automobile Dealers Association of Eastern Ohio reported that new vehicle sales were down last month, while used vehicle sales were up.

Dealers in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties sold 2,563 new vehicles last month, which was down 8 percent from June 2007. They sold 3,790 used vehicles last month, which was up 6 percent over June 2007.

Sweeney Buick Pontiac GMC in Boardman was the top dealer in new-vehicle sales last month with 153. Greenwood Chevrolet Hummer in Austintown was next at 148.

As for used vehicles, the leader was Columbiana Buick Cadillac Chevrolet with 93, followed by Greenwood Chevrolet at 86.

shilling@vindy.com