Car sales and price tags both on the increase
Both locally and nationally, new cars are rolling off sales lots at an encouraging pace, given the slow-moving recovery of the economy — and consumers are shelling out more as they tack on fancy extras.
“People are spending more on cars they buy,” said Debbie Peters, General Manager of Day-Centennial Chevrolet in Uniontown. “They are spending more on equipment and options.”
The average sale price of a vehicle purchased in the U.S. reached $31,252, up almost $1,000 from a year before.
Peters said in the last month or so, the compact Chevy Cruze, with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of starting at just more than $17,000, has been a hot seller. While the Eco model can get as high as 42 miles per gallon, according to information from the manufacturer, Peters said she thinks the majority of new cars are fuel-efficient. She said she doesn’t think fuel efficiency plays into buyers’ decisions.
While the Associated Press reports an increase in pickup truck sales nationally, Peters said she hasn’t seen a similar increase because customers in the area have historically shown an interest in that market.
“It has always been a truck market,” she said.
Similarly, Ford of Uniontown’s general sales manager, Jeff Paletta, said the F-Series has been a consistently strong seller.
“We sell a lot to people in the coal industry,” he said. “We thought the fracking business would move the line,” he added, but it hasn’t.
Paletta noted that many of the out-of-town workers in the Marcellus shale industry are rolling in driving their own trucks, not purchasing them locally. Those drivers are also loyal to their dealerships at home, Paletta said, choosing them over local dealerships for routine service and repairs.
Rising demand for cars is also helping to drive up prices. Last month, new car sales jumped 17 percent to 1.5 million nationally, their highest level in more than six years.
Paletta said Ford of Uniontown has been seeing steady increases in sales for some time.
In the last month, he said, “Focus, Escape and F-Series have been our top sellers.”
“Escape has been wildfire,” Paletta added. “Focus, too.”
Lately, he said he could see a parallel with the national trend toward getting more car for the money.
“I think the price of cars has jumped dramatically in the last five years,” said Paletta. “They’re more money, but you’re getting a lot more.”
According to Chris Ranker, dealer-principal at Ranker Motor Sales in Dunbar, the rise in sales of options-loaded cars may have something to do with the way manufacturers market the options packages.
“You can’t choose a la carte,” he said.
Buyers who feel strongly about getting one option sometimes have to buy them in a package of four options, elevating the final sales price.
Ranker said sales of new vehicles at his dealership, which are exclusively Lincolns, have not matched the upward national trend.
“As a whole, we’ve had a good year,” Ranker said, but, in August, sales saw a slump.
Ranker noted that Fayette County consumers don’t typically gravitate toward new, high-end models, which is one reason why his dealership is the only one selling luxury cars. There are no lots selling new Mercedes, BMWs or Volvos in the area, Ranker pointed out.
Ranker said his dealership also offers used, late-model Fords, mostly a year old or less. Among those, Ranker said Ford Edge and Escape were the best sellers last month. He said there are generally two types of buyers: those on a budget and looking for a good price, and those who are shopping for “what they want”, including options packages. He said people buying Edge are going for more options, choosing Limited over SELs.
People shopping for an Escape, a smaller sport utility vehicle, are going for the more modest XLT edition, which sells for slightly less than the Limited.
But the conditions that have driven the increase in auto sales could soon change. Although sales are expected to keep rising across the country, automakers say the next wave of buyers who replace older cars will be more cost-conscious, shunning expensive radios and cushy seats to reduce payments.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.