Valley dealerships continue to see dip in sales of new vehicles

STAFF REPORT

New vehicle sales in the Mahoning Valley dipped even lower in December.

Area dealers sold 1,344 new cars and trucks last month, compared with more than 1,500 in November and more than 1,900 in October. In December of 2007, dealers sold 1,841 vehicles, according to the Automobile Dealers Association of Eastern Ohio.

The top-selling vehicle last month was the Chevrolet Malibu with 86 sales.

Greenwood Chevrolet Hummer in Austintown was the No. 1 seller of new vehicles in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties with 85 sales.

It also was the leader in used-car sales with 93. The top-selling used vehicle was the Chevrolet Trailblazer with 92 sales.

Total used vehicle sales last month were 3,016, which was up from the 2,668 that were sold in December 2007.

For the year, both new and used sales were down.

Dealers sold 27,357 new vehicles in 2008, compared with 28,709 in 2007. Dealers sold 43,854 used vehicles in 2008, compared with 44,326 the year before.