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Valley vehicles racing off lots
New-vehicle sales in the Mahoning Valley have fallen since 2008, but have perked up so far this year. Sales are projected to top 20,000 and could reach pre-recession levels by the end of 2011.
Year Sales
2008: 27,362
2009: 17,276
2010: 19,799
2011 : 17,261*
*Through August
Source: Automobile Dealers Association of Eastern Ohio
Top five dealers in new-car sales for August:
Greenwood Chevrolet: 176
Sweeney Chevrolet: 135
Bob and Chuck Eddy Chrysler Dodge Jeep: 131
Stadium GM Superstore: 129
Taylor Kia: 125
Top five car models sold in August:
Chevrolet Cruze: 200
Chevrolet Malibu: 192
Chevrolet Silverado 1500: 108
Ford Escape: 87
Chevrolet Equinox: 80
By Karl Henkel
YOUNGSTOWN
There are comebacks, and then there are comebacks.
Auto sales in the U.S. are up about 9 percent so far this year, according to Motor Intelligence.
In the Mahoning Valley, cars are racing off dealer lots at an astounding pace: Sales are up 32 percent compared with 2010.
“It’s a beautiful thing,” said Bobby Stackhouse, sales manager at Sweeney Chevrolet. “Everybody is putting up good numbers.”
At the current pace, dealers are all but certain to top 20,000 sales by year’s end.
That milestone hasn’t been matched since 2008’s economic collapse, which led to a 37 percent drop in new-car sales from 2008 to 2009. Sales picked up in 2010, rising 14 percent.
“I think this year is a growing year,” said Steve Chos, executive vice president of the Auto Dealers Association of Eastern Ohio, which tracks auto sales in the tri-county area.
“It’s going to take some time to rebuild.”
If new-car sales continue at their current pace through December, it could come close to matching the 27,362 vehicles sold in 2008.
That was about the average for the three years preceding the recession, Chos said.
Greenwood Chevrolet in Austintown was the top new-car dealer in August. Along with other Chevrolet dealerships such as Spitzer Chevrolet in North Jackson, astronomical sales gains are the norm.
Both Greenwood and Spitzer’s new-car sales are up 60 percent compared with last year.
Greenwood has sold 1,222 new cars so far this year compared with 763 during the first eight months of 2010.
Stackhouse attributed the rise in sales to the Lordstown-built Chevrolet Cruze, the best-selling compact-car five months running and the No. 1 seller in the Mahoning Valley the past three months.
“The Cruze has been the driving force behind our sales,” Stackhouse said.
“If you look at our numbers, it’s been unbelievable the volume we’ve done with Cruzes compared to Cobalts.”
The Cruze trails only the Chevy Malibu, for the overall local sales lead through August, 1,549 to 1,512.
Local dealers sold 200 Cruzes and 192 Malibus last month.
“Clearly, it’s been huge for the Valley,” said Dave Green, president of United Auto Workers Local 1714 at the Lordstown plant.
“The support has been monumental from the whole community.”