Local car sales increase 10% over last year

By Don Shilling

Both new and used vehicle sales are up so far in 2008.

Local car sales surged in February.

The Automobile Dealers Association of Eastern Ohio reported Monday new car sales increased 19 percent and used car sales increased 10 percent when compared with February of last year.

The gains came despite lower new vehicle sales nationally last month. General Motors, for example, reported a 13 percent sales drop, while Ford sales fell 7 percent and Chrysler sales were off 8 percent.

In Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties, new vehicle sales totaled 1,751, compared with 1,476 in February 2007.

The top-selling vehicle was the Pontiac G6. The Chevrolet Trailblazer, which has led local sales in 14 of the previous 18 months, finished third.

The top local dealers were Greenwood Chevrolet Hummer in Austintown, 150; Sweeney Buick Pontiac GMC in Boardman, 128; Stadium GM Superstore in Salem, 89; Spitzer Autoworld in Lordstown, 87; and Sweeney Chevrolet in Boardman, 85.

Of last month’s transactions, 840 were lease deals, 624 were financed sales and 287 were cash sales.

In the first two months of this year, local dealers sold 4,408 new vehicles, compared with 3,820 in the same period last year.

Used vehicle sales last month totaled 4,022, compared with 3669 in February 2007.

The leading dealers last month were Denny’s Auto Sales in Youngstown, 87; Greenwood Chevrolet Hummer, 83; Columbiana Buick Cadillac Chevrolet, 82; Greenwood’s Hubbard Chevrolet, 78; and Donnell Ford in Boardman and Stadium GM Superstore, both with 76.

For the first two months of this year, local dealers sold 7,399 used vehicles, compared with 7,299 in the same period last year.

shilling@vindy.com