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Local auto sales slightly down in March 2015
By Kalea Hall
YOUNGSTOWN
Local car dealers are staying positive about auto sales for March and for the future.
Overall, new- and used-car sales across the Mahoning Valley for March were down slightly, with 7,253 sold compared with 7,339 sold last March — a 1.2 percent difference, according to data released Wednesday by the Automobile Dealers Association of Eastern Ohio.
The data are based off titles processed at county title departments by the final business day of each month.
“Every day, you try to sell cars,” said Don Brady, general manager of Columbiana Cadillac-Buick-Chevrolet. “Some days are good, and some days aren’t.”
His dealership saw improvement in sales from March 2014 to March 2015 with 161 sold last month compared with 154 in March 2014.
The Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Terrain and Lords-town-built Chevrolet Cruze were the local leaders for new-car sales.
The Equinox new-car sales were up by 51.6 percent from last year; GMC Terrain also saw growth with a 43.6 percent increase from last year; and the Cruze saw a 61.4 percent decrease in new sales.
Last March new Cruze sales hit 298, but this year the Cruze sales dropped down to 115.
“The Equinox was off the charts,” said Greg Greenwood of Greenwood Chevrolet in Austintown.
For his dealership, the Equinox, Silverado and Cruze were the top-sellers in that order.
Greenwood’s dealership was the top-selling dealership in the Mahoning Valley with 315 sales in March. The dealership was down in sales from last March’s number of 365, but Greenwood said the dealership’s sales have remained consistent given the weather. Auto-show incentives in March from the Cleveland Auto Show helped the sales, he said.
“Once it gets to be 50 degrees and above, people really come out,” he said.
Mark Thomas Ford in Cortland didn’t seem to see much impact from the weather. The dealership saw a 20.5 percent increase in sales with 100 new and used vehicles sold compared with 83 last March.
“We started out busy and stayed busy the whole month,” said Steve Bott, general sales manager for the dealership. “We sold more [Ford] Explorers last month than ever.”
Stadium GM Superstore in Salem came in second for most new- and used-car sales with 278 sold in March, and the dealership saw a 14.9 percent increase in sales.
Taylor Kia of Boardman came in third for new and used sales with 249 sold, and its sales also grew from March 2014 by 12.2 percent.
Greenwood Chevrolet also led just the new-car sales with 186 sold, while Stadium GM Superstore came in second with 158 new car sales.
Chevrolet, Ford and GMC were the top new makes last month.