1st-year sales of Cruze total 212,019

By Karl Henkel | October 4, 2011 at 12:01a.m.

LORDSTOWN

Year No. 1 of the Chevrolet Cruze officially came to an end Monday when General Motors Co. announced its September auto-sales figures.

After a full 12 months of sales, including an 18,097-sale September, GM sold 212,019 of the Lordstown-built compact cars.

“I think the car has sold better than anticipated in the market,” said Dave Green, president of United Auto Workers Local 1714.

“It just goes to show that the company continues to build good-quality cars.”

The Cruze, which launched in September 2010, registered more sales than its predecessor, the Chevrolet Cobalt, during the first 12 full calendar months of sales.

GM sold 195,839 Cobalts from November 2004 to November 2005.

“The first year is a good indicator,” Kristen Andersson, auto analyst at TrueCar.com. “We should continue to see sales do very well for the Cruze.”

Cruze sales fell for the third-straight month — snapping a five-month streak of 21,000 or more sales — and are well below the peak monthly sales total of 24,896 from June, but for the fifth- consecutive month, it was the best-selling compact car.

The 18,097 sales topped the No. 2 car, the Toyota Corolla, which had 16,147 sales, and the Hyundai Elantra, which sold 14,386.

Sales in the fuel-efficient compact-car segment declined in September, in line with gas prices that have dropped about 50 cents per gallon since May, according to AAA’s Fuel Gauge report.

Andersson said the seasonality factor has contributed to slightly lower sales totals for compact cars the past few months but added they are “on pace” with the numbers posted this summer.

“The last couple of months, there was some fluctuations because of the gas prices,” Andersson said. “And September is a huge truck month in terms of marketing and incentives.”

Green said he thinks despite declining gas prices, the Cruze will continue to sell well because of its fuel- efficiency. The 2012 Cruze gets between 25 and 42 miles per gallon, depending on specific trim.

“Gas is so volatile that a lot of people realize the prices are going to go up and down pretty regularly,” Green said.

“People have a feeling it’s not going to go down and stay down.”

GM sales overall increased 20 percent in September compared with last year.

Fellow American automakers Chrysler Group, LLC and Ford Motor Co. posted gains of 27 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

Volkswagen AG sales rose 36 percent, and Nissan Motor Co. sales increased 25 percent.

Toyota Motor Corp. sales took the biggest hit, falling 17.5 percent.

Honda Motor Co. sales fell 8 percent.