Sales at Orange County auto dealers rose for the fourth straight month in May.
Sales in May were up nearly 30% from a year earlier to 8,511 autos, according to the Newport Beach-based Orange County Automobile Dealers Association.
The figure is based on registrations with the state, a barometer of sales.
The gain is one of the biggest single month advances since the economic recovery began. Late spring and early summer traditionally is the busiest time of the year for auto dealers.
Nearly all of auto brands saw higher sales. Still, last month’s auto sales were below the 14,622 autos that dealers sold in May of 2007, when the market was much stronger.
South Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia, which have their U.S. bases in Orange County, did comparatively well in the downturn and continued to boost sales as the economy improves.
Hyundai was up 44% to 382 autos sold. Kia was up 1% to 148 autos.
Luxury car sales improved for the top three brands in OC.
Mercedes-Benz was up 25% to 617 autos for May. Lexus was up 5% to 408 autos. BMW was up 23% to 381 autos.
Jaguar and Porsche had a bad May. Porsche was down 12% to 50 cars. Jaguar sales were down 70% to 12 autos.
Toyota continues its upward climb. The Japanese automaker was up 41% to 1,760 autos sold in May.
Key rival Honda was also up. Honda boosted sales 32% to 1,283 autos.
Among the domestic brands, Ford’s sales rose 59% to 720 autos. General Motors’ GMC brand was up 47% to 115 autos.
