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Data shows drop in local auto sales
By Kalea Hall
YOUNGSTOWN
Some data show a slowdown in auto sales, but some local dealers say they are doing just fine – or even fantastic.
“At the end of the last month, we were up 6 percent [for the year],” said Barry Gonis, general manager at Spitzer Chevrolet in North Jackson. “The incentives are phenomenal.”
Data released Friday by the Greater Cleveland Automobile Dealers’ Association show total year-to-date new and used sales in the Mahoning Valley down 1,102 cars – from 27,793 to 26,691.
The data are derived from vehicle titles processed by the final business day each month at county title departments.
In June, sales were down 538 vehicles to 4,669.
But Mike Hudock, general manager of Stadium Chevrolet Buick GMC Cadillac in Salem, says these numbers lag.
“Those are always 45 to 60 days behind,” he said.
Stadium, a top-selling dealer in the Valley, has been doing “very well.”
“We are having a good year,” Hudock said. “I am about even for last year. Traffic is brisk.”
Tom Brittain, owner and president of Brittain Motors in East Palestine, said he hasn’t had sales as good as last year, but they are steady.
He isn’t too concerned with the drop in sales shown by the data.
“Some of it is the uneasiness people may have with the euro and the economy and some of the things that are going on politically,” he said. “I think everything will be fine.”
Steve Bott, general sales manager at Mark Thomas Ford in Cortland, had a better month in June than May, but overall sales at the dealership are behind last year’s.
“It’s all a part of people fearing the unknown,” Bott said.
All Chevy dealers name the Lordstown-built Chevrolet Cruze, the Silverado, Equinox and Malibu as top sellers for the year. On the Ford side, the Fusion, F-150 and Escape are top sellers.
The Valley’s best-selling new vehicles were the Silverado with 183 sales, Equinox with 169 sales and the Cruze with 129 sales. Top used vehicles were the Cruze with 88 sales, the Escape with 57 sales and the Malibu with 48 sales.
General Motors incentives have been bringing in the customers, dealers say.
“Their numbers are off for the year, so they have really stepped up on incentives,” Gonis said. “GM is pushing real hard, and they are going to push a little harder.”