Thread: County sees big jump in auto sales during first half of 2010

County sees big jump in auto sales during first half of 2010

By Dean Calbreath, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Monday, July 26, 2010 at 8:31 p.m.
/ AP

New-car sales in San Diego County jumped 30 percent during the first half of the year, and sales of light trucks rose 18 percent as the county continued to recover from a four-year decline in auto sales, according to a report released by the California New Car Dealers Association.

Between January and June, 42,502 new cars were sold in San Diego County, compared to 32,588 a year before. New truck sales hit 17,044, up from 14,392 the previous year. When combined, total vehicle sales grew by 25 percent, compared to 23 percent for the state and 17 percent nationwide.

The dealers association, which released the report last week, expects that the state’s growth rate will ease to 8 percent in the second half of the year, since the year-to-year sales comparisons will be skewed by last year’s Cash for Clunkers program.

“2009 was the worst year for car sales since 1975, but we had a huge influx of sales during the third quarter and part of the fourth quarter, so even though we expect to sell around 600,000 cars in the second half of the year — about the same as we sold in the first half — the percentage of growth will look smaller because of the effects of Cash for Clunkers,â€

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