NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

New Vehicle Sales Register Third Straight
Positive Start to Automotive Sales Year

Cleveland, OH (February 10, 2014) –  New car and light truck dealers across Northern Ohio sold a total of 19,174 vehicles in January, an increase of 121 vehicles ahead of January of 2014’s total of 19,053 vehicles sold, according to figures released today by the Greater Cleveland Automobile Dealers Association (GCADA). The positive numbers, while essentially flat with January of 2014’s numbers, marked the third straight January that auto dealers started off the year on a positive note.

January of 2013 registered a sales increase of 14.9 percent over January of 2012, while January of 2014 registered an increase of 3.24 percent over January of 2013.

“While our numbers were essentially flat with January of last year, it’s still nice to start off the year on a positive note,” said Louis A. Vitantonio, president of the GCADA. “As an industry, we are starting to come up against some very strong numbers. However, we are still predicting strong growth this year. Fuel prices have accelerated the sale of trucks for the beginning of 2015.

“In addition, we also expect a strong jump start from the upcoming Cleveland Auto Show, which always has a positive impact on the Northern Ohio automotive market.”

The Cleveland Auto Show opens its doors to the public on Saturday, March 7 at the I-X Center in Cleveland.

Sales of trucks and SUVs grew by more than six percent when comparing January of this year with January of 2014. Franchised new vehicle dealers sold a total of 6,074 trucks in January of 2015 compared with 5,696 sold in January of last year, an increase of 6.64 percent.

Chevrolet continued to close the gap on the number one selling brand in Northern Ohio. Ford sold 3,149 vehicles in January compared to 2,790 vehicles sold in the month by Chevrolet. Third place Honda and its offshore rival Toyota continued the fight for market share, the former selling 30 more vehicles than Toyota in the month. Mini had exceptional month, with the rally brand ringing up a sales increase of more than 221 percent when comparing January of this year with January of last. Audi, BMW, Dodge, Fiat, GMC, Lincoln, Nissan, Porsche and Subaru all registered very healthy double digit gains in the month.

16 Brands Up in January (‘15 v. ‘14)

The following brands posted sales increases in January of 2015 versus January of 2014: Acura, Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, GMC, Infiniti, Jaguar, Jeep, Lincoln, Mini, Nissan, Porsche and Subaru.

New-car and truck sales in Northern Ohio
Jan ‘15 / Jan ‘14 & 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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