New Vehicle Sales Continue Upward Climb in Northern Ohio

From the Greater Cleveland Automobile Dealers’ Association (GCADA)

Cleveland, OH (August 3, 2017) –  While many regions across the United States are reporting softer new vehicle sales this year, Northern Ohio continued to be a bright spot for many brands. Across Northern Ohio, total new vehicle sales grew by almost two percent when comparing July of 2017 with the same month last year, according to figures released today by the Greater Cleveland Automobile Dealers’ Association (GCADA).

Trucks and SUVs continued to be the fastest growing market segment, with sales increasing more than 21 percent across the same time frame. Meanwhile, new car sales were off over nine percent during the same period.

“Attractive new 2018 models and strong incentives should continue to draw customers into local dealers’ showrooms,” said Louis A. Vitantonio, president of the GCADA. “Despite having softer sales across the nation, the basic market dynamics are still very healthy. Dealers are anticipating a national market of between 16 million and 17 million new vehicles sold. Locally, we anticipate a strong finish for 2017.”

Franchised new vehicle dealers sold 21,392 new vehicles in July, compared to 20,999 in July of 2016, an increase of 1.87 percent. For the year to date, total new vehicle sales are up 4.22 percent, with dealers selling 147,345 new vehicles this year compared to 141,378 sold last year at this time.

New car sales amounted to 12,026 units last month compared to 13,261 vehicles sold in July of last year, a decrease of 9.31 percent. Consumers continued to flock to new SUVs and trucks, with dealers ringing up a sales increase of 21.04 percent in July over the same period a year earlier. Dealers sold a total of 9,366 trucks and SUVs in July compared to 7,738 last year.

Thanks to strong truck and SUV sales, Ford beat out Chevrolet for Northern Ohio’s best-selling brand in the month, selling 3,336 total new vehicle sales compared to 3,274 for Chevy. Ford rang up an impressive 52.29 percent increase in truck and SUV sales in July, selling 1,759 units compared to 1,115 in July of 2016.

Honda held on to third place, selling 2,091 total new vehicles to Toyota’s 1,724 new vehicles sold in the month.

21 Brands Up in July (‘17 v. ‘16)
The following brands posted sales increases in July of 2017 versus July of 2016: Acura, Alfa Romeo, Buick, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Jeep, Lexus, Lincoln, Maserati, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mini, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Ram, Subaru and Volkswagen.

22 Brands Up for the Year (’17 v. ’16)
The following brands posted sales increases for the year to date in 2017: Acura, Alfa Romeo, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, GMC, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Jaguar, Jeep, Kia, Lincoln, Maserati, Mazda, Mini, Porsche, Ram, Subaru and Volkswagen.

 

New-car and truck sales in Northern Ohio
July ’17 / July ’16 & YTD

July ’17

July ’16

YTD
July ‘17

YTD
July ’16


July Chg.

YTD
July Chg.

ACURA

170

87

999

920

95.40%

8.59%

ALFA

8

0

47

0

0.00%

0.00%

AUDI

157

201

993

1021

-21.89%

-2.74%

BMW

176

231

1684

1688

-23.81%

-0.24%

BUICK

610

558

4551

3585

9.32%

26.95%

CADILLAC

233

248

1490

1478

-6.05%

0.81%

CHEVROLET

3274

3272

22904

21509

0.06%

6.49%

CHRYSLER

284

394

1834

2518

-27.92%

-27.16%

DODGE

455

448

3473

3148

1.56%

10.32%

FIAT

20

42

153

191

-52.38%

-19.90%

FORD

3336

3029

22752

22345

10.14%

1.82%

FREIGHTLINER

53

52

290

359

1.92%

-19.22%

GMC

736

873

5533

5532

-15.69%

0.02%

HINO

6

4

37

38

50.00%

-2.63%

HONDA

2091

1924

12862

12538

8.68%

2.58%

HYUNDAI

808

783

6260

4984

3.19%

25.60%

INFINITI

167

134

994

919

24.63%

8.16%

INTERNATIONAL

30

43

322

419

-30.23%

-23.15%

ISUZU

12

18

117

129

-33.33%

-9.30%

JAGUAR

14

26

188

88

-46.15%

113.64%

JEEP

1471

1453

9993

9582

1.24%

4.29%

KENWORTH

19

22

182

157

-13.64%

15.92%

KIA

1150

1192

7588

7439

-3.52%

2.00%

LAND ROVER

24

59

271

342

-59.32%

-20.76%

LEXUS

179

178

1218

1347

0.56%

-9.58%

LINCOLN

242

212

1513

1504

14.15%

0.60%

LOTUS

0

0

0

0

0.00%

0.00%

MACK

4

14

68

54

-71.43%

25.93%

MASERATI

8

4

58

37

100.00%

56.76%

MAZDA

448

421

2967

2746

6.41%

8.05%

MERCEDES BENZ

324

283

1843

1851

14.49%

-0.43%

MINI

42

38

268

246

10.53%

8.94%

MISCELLANEOUS

31

16

131

138

93.75%

-5.07%

MITSUBISHI

125

89

801

951

40.45%

-15.77%

NISSAN

972

1161

6968

7318

-16.28%

-4.78%

PETERBILT

57

70

547

488

-18.57%

12.09%

PORSCHE

64

43

327

292

48.84%

11.99%

RAM

500

408

3609

3013

22.55%

19.78%

SMART

3

3

28

34

0.00%

-17.65%

SUBARU

891

782

6623

5534

13.94%

19.68%

TOYOTA

1724

1767

11395

11934

-2.43%

-4.52%

UD

0

0

0

0

0.00%

0.00%

VOLKSWAGEN

394

320

2893

2403

23.13%

20.39%

VOLVO

76

95

522

535

-20.00%

-2.43%

WESTERN STAR

4

2

49

24

100.00%

104.17%

Total Cars and Trucks

21,392

20,999

147,345

141,378

1.87%

4.22%

 

Retail sales figures are based on vehicle registration reports from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.  Vehicle sales data includes the counties of: Ashland, Ashtabula, Carroll, Columbiana, Coshocton, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Holmes, Huron, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Richland, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, Tuscarawas and Wayne.

About the GCADA
The Greater Cleveland Automobile Dealers’ Association (GCADA) has served the retail-automobile industry and community with integrity and distinction since 1915. Today, located in Brecksville, Ohio, GCADA represents over 250 franchised motor vehicle dealers, which include new-car, truck, motorcycle and RV dealers in a 21-county region of Northern Ohio along the Lake Erie shore and beyond.  More information on the GCADA can be found at www.gcada.org. Contact us at 440-746-1500.