U.S. Auto Sales Highest Since 2008
According to national auto-sales tracker Autodata, new car sales are up dramatically in the United States.
Sales rose nearly 13-percent in March — the best numbers since 2008, before the gas-price spike and financial meltdown.
At least one eastern Idaho dealer said on Wednesday the sales boom has hit home. Smith Chevrolet says cars are flying off the lot so fast, sales folks are struggling just to keep up.
“I actually had the best month I’ve ever had,” said salesman Dax Pond.
He said many people in eastern Idaho seem to have the new car bug right now.
The draw? More and more cars are getting higher and higher miles-to-the-gallon.
“GM has always had a big market on trucks, and lately they’ve come out with a lot of higher mile-per-gallon vehicles,” he said.
You see them on the back of a lot of new cars — that little green badge tells consumers, “this car is a money saver.” With more and more US automakers like General Motors getting on the fuel economy wagon, sales are blowing up.
“It has definitely helped the American car-buyer go after American products,” said Pond.
GM said it sold more than 100,000 cars with 30 miles to the gallon or more to American buyers. That’s a company record. In fact, sales rose more than 14-percent last month.
Chrysler sold about 160,000 cars and trucks in March. That figure is up 34% over last year. Ford reported a more modest 5% gain in sales. Still, it’s the company’s best March sales since 2007.
While fuel economy is credited with many increased sales, the silent contributor may be a financial upswing.
“It’s a very good time to borrow money because rates are at historical lows across the board,” said Commerce Bank credit administrator Mike Morrison.
Smith Chevrolet said it’s not only the high MPG cars selling fast. They started March with 21 Camaro sports cars. On Wednesday there were only 7 left on the lot.
Even truck sales rose in March, about 9 percent according to Autodata. The only major automaker to report a loss of sales, was Honda.
