Cruze Drives Valley Car Sales to a Faster Pace
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Area auto dealers sold 259 more new cars and trucks in May than they did a year earlier, led by the Lordstown-built Chevrolet Cruze, the Automobile Dealers Association of Eastern Ohio reported.
Dealers in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana sold 2,347 new vehicles in May, up from 2,088 in May 2012. Year-to-date through May, new vehicle sales total 11,417, up 1,480 from the 9,937 during the first five months of 2012.
Sales of GM's Cruze accounted for 143 of the new vehicles sold in May, up 44 from the 99 sold in May 2012. Cruze sales just barely edged sales of the Chevy Malibu with 137 units sold last month, down 35 from the 172 sold a year earlier. Rounding out the top three was the Chevy Silverado 1500 with 110 units sold, more than double the 52 sold in May 2012.
Sales of the Chevy Equinox totaled just one fewer, 109, than Silverado's May numbers, and were up 28 from the 81 in May 2012. Completing the top five was the Ford F-150 with 78 sold, up 15 from the 63 sold a year earlier.
Leading area dealers in May new-vehicle sales was Greenwood Chevrolet, Austintown, with 150 units sold, up nine from the 141 sold a year earlier. Bob & Chuck Eddy Chrysler Dodge Jeep, Austintown, followed, with 122 units sold, up 11 from 111 in May 2012.
Taylor Kia, Boardman, sold 118 new vehicles last month, down 11 from 129 a year earlier. Next was Sweeney Chevrolet, Boardman, with 102 new vehicles sold, down 11 from 113 in May 2012. Sweeney was followed by Stadium Superstore, Salem, with 96 new units sold, up 21 from 75 the year before.
Area dealers sold a combined 6,001 new and used vehicles last month, up 579 from the 5422 they moved in May 2012. Greenwood Chevrolet led in combined new and used sales among dealers, with 272, up 37 in May from 235 a year earlier. That outpaced Stadium GM's 220, which was 82 more than the 138 a year earlier. Taylor Kia followed with 212, up just two from 210 in May 2012.
Sweeney Chevrolet moved 173 new and used vehicles combined, off one from 174 a year earlier. Eddy Chrysler Dodge Jeep Followed with 157 sold, up a unit from 156 a year earlier.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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