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Area auto dealerships see sales rise in March
By GRACE WYLER
New-vehicle sales jumped last month, rebounding significantly from their February doldrums.
Auto dealers in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties sold 1,833 new cars in March, up from 969 new-car sales in February. Sales also increased slightly from March of 2009, when 1,645 new cars were sold in the area.
The rise in sales can be attributed to the nicer weather as well as to a general perception that the economy is improving, said Aaron Meyers, a sales manager at Fairway Ford Mercury in Canfield.
“March sales are typically a little higher — weather plays a big role,” Meyers said. “I think everything is starting to break loose, and people are starting to spend more money.”
The Chevrolet Malibu was the most-popular new car for the fifth consecutive month. Other top-five best-sellers were the Ford F-150, the Chevy Silverado 1500, the Chevy Equinox and the Chevy Cobalt, demonstrating the region’s continued interest in buying domestically made cars.
“There is no perception that there is a gap between an import and a GM car anymore,” said Anthony Garono, sales manager at Sweeney Chevrolet in Boardman. “GM has really turned a corner and is putting out a phenomenal product, and people are starting to see that.”
The rise in car sales is partly due to an increase in leases on new cars, Garono said.
Dealerships in the tri-county area leased 463 new vehicles this March, compared with 173 for the same period in 2009.
“Leasing is back,” Garono said. “We are doing quite a bit of leasing, and that has definitely sparked interest in customers.”
The region’s total new-car sales for the year were 4,043 at the end of March, down slightly from 4,109 for the same period in 2009. The drop is largely due to February’s low sales, which were the worst in decades.