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MEDIA CONTACT:
Sara Panza
Greater Cleveland Automobile Dealers’ Association
440.746.1500

New Vehicle Sales End Year on a High Note

Cleveland, OH (January 8, 2015) – Franchised new car and truck dealers across Northern Ohio sold 19,303 vehicles in the month of December, an increase of almost 16 percent over the same month a year prior, according to figures released today by the Greater Cleveland Automobile Dealers’ Association (GCADA). For 2014, sales of cars and light trucks were up almost seven percent over 2013.

“Low interest rates and favorable gas prices are driving sales and giving consumers a reason to visit showrooms and buy,” said Louis A. Vitantonio, president of the GCADA. “Truck sales in December were very strong, rounding out 2014 with double digit growth for the year. We anticipate sales in 2015 will be very positive as we eclipse the record sales seen in 2006.”

The 19,303 vehicles sold in December of this year was a gain over December of 2013’s total of 16,648, an increase of 15.95 percent. In 2014 franchised new vehicle dealers sold 245,053 vehicles over the 229,534 sold in 2013, an increase of 6.76 percent. Light truck and SUV sales in December of 2014 were up 26.51 percent over the same month a year prior, while new car sales increased 11.4 percent over the same period.

Used vehicles were also strong with sales rising 4.21 percent for the year and 12.95 percent for the month.

The margin between Ford and Chevrolet grew smaller, with Ford selling 3,028 vehicles in the month compared to 2,719 sold for the Bow-Tie brand. However, Chevrolet sales increased more than 26 percent when comparing December of 2014 with December of 2013, while Ford’s sales increased by 7.49 percent. Honda and Toyota both had a good month, with both brands ringing up a sales increase of over ten percent for the month. Honda stayed slightly ahead of its rival, selling 1,588 in December, just 128 more vehicles than Toyota.

Chrysler finished out the year incredibly strong, registering a sales increase of more than 83 percent in the month. The strong December follows a healthy November, when Chrysler’s sales increased more than 17 percent over November of 2013.

Many brands in Northern Ohio saw double-digit increases in sales for the year, including: Audi (19.91 percent), Dodge (16.05 percent), GMC (13.47 percent), Infiniti (30.38 percent), Jeep (48.53 percent), Land Rover (22.10 percent), Lexus (10.08 percent), Lincoln (25.24 percent), Mini (11.2 percent), Mitsubishi (20.76 percent), Nissan (14.44 percent) and Subaru (17.31 percent).

21 Brands Up in December (‘14 v. ‘13)
The following brands posted sales increases in December of 2014 versus December of 2013: Audi, Buick, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, GMC, Honda, Jeep, Kia, Lexus, Lincoln, Maserati, Mazda, Mini, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo.

23 Brands Up Year-to-Date Through December of 2014
The following brands posted sales increases for 2014:  Audi, BMW, Buick, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, GMC, Honda, Infiniti, Jeep, Kia, Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln, Maserati, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mini, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru and Toyota.

New-car and truck sales in Northern Ohio
December ‘14 / December ‘13 & YTD

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.

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