Valley Auto Sales Jump 34.6% in March
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – A year after the pandemic brought auto sales to a near-halt, area dealerships report just over 6,000 new and used cars sold in March, a 34.6% climb from last year.
According to data from the Greater Cleveland Automobile Dealers Association, dealers sold 6,002 vehicles to residents of Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties last month.
In March 2020, when restrictions were instituted in the middle of the month, there were 4,458 new and used vehicles sold.
“With the COVID-19 restrictions in place by mid-March of 2020, we expected the March 2021 numbers to be quite positive in comparison. As we have tracked for more than 10 years, March generates the highest new vehicle sales of any month of the calendar,” said Louis Vitantonio, president of the association, in a statement. “As inventories remain low consumer selection will be limited and available new and used vehicles will be snapped up quickly.”
Locally, just one dealership sold more than 200 new cars last month: Sweeney Chevrolet in Boardman with 205, up from 163 in March 2020.
Rounding out the top five are Boardman Subaru with 198, up from 85 a year ago; Fred Martin Ford, Austintown, with 185, up from 64; Greenwood Chevrolet, Austintown, with 182, up from 141; and Toyota of Boardman with 140, up from 94.
On the used-car chart, three dealerships hit triple-digit sales volume: Boardman Subaru with 128, up from 51 in March 2020; Greenwood Chevy with 129, up from 122; and Taylor Kia of Boardman with 118, up from 89.
Across the dealership association’s 22-county footprint, Boardman Subaru ranked fifth in combined sales of new and used vehicles with 361. Greenwood Chevy ranked seventh with 333, Fred Martin Ford ranked ninth with 305 and Fairway Ford, Canfield, ranked 10th with 303.
Fred Martin Superstore in Barberton topped the combined sales chart with 536.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
