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Few Gainers in Jan. Auto Sales; Dealers Eye Incentives

The January numbers for Orange County auto dealers were grim.

Auto registrations, a barometer of new vehicle sales, were down 28.5%, according to the Costa Mesa-based Orange County Automobile Dealers Association.

In all, 12,822 autos were registered in January, down from 17,936 a year earlier. Light trucks, which include sport utility vehicles, saw the biggest decline. They were down 34.2% to 5,563. Cars registrations were down 23.5% to 7,259.

“It was a very tough month in January,” said John Sackrison, executive director of the auto dealers association.

Sackrison said he doesn’t expect big declines to carry on through the rest of the year. Overall, 2008 will be down, but the monthly declines won’t be as big, he said.

Every brand was off in January except for Hyundai, Volkswagen, Mazda, Infiniti and Buick.

Hyundai was up 4% to 323 autos. Volkswagen was up 11.3% to 306. Mazda was up nearly 2% to 282 autos. Infiniti was up,barely, by 1 auto,to 250. Buick, which doesn’t typically sell a lot of autos in OC, was up 43% to 40.






Crevier BMW: selling more used cars

Some of the autos with the steepest percentage declines aren’t big brands in OC. Saab, for example, was down 65% to 13 cars. Suzuki was down 55% to 21 autos.

Mitsubishi had the biggest decline. It was down 67% to 52 autos.

Jack Nerad, analyst for Irvine-based Kelley Blue Book, said he expects February’s sales decline to be less severe.

“In Orange County we’re seeing symptoms of what’s going on in the country as a whole,” he said.

Nationwide in February, auto sales continued their downward trend. Toyota saw a 2.5% drop last month, while Hyundai was off 11%, Mazda 6.5% and Mitsubishi 6.4%, among other decliners.

Many people here bought homes through adjustable-rate mortgages with interest rates now going up, he said. And home equity credit loans have dried up.

That makes people less likely to buy a car, Nerad said.

Gas prices also are playing a part, the association’s Sackrison said. Shoppers may be holding off on that SUV buy to see if gas prices stabilize.

Sales of the biggest SUV,Hummer,were down 50% to 39 in January.

In the luxury brands, Mercedes-Benz reversed a running trend from 2007 by outselling BMW and Lexus, which held the lead for much of last year.

Mercedes sold more than its rivals but was down 35% to 955 autos. Lexus was down 29% to 869. BMW was down 32% to 690.

For the three months through January, registrations were down 19% to 35,687 autos. Light trucks were down 24% to 15,626. Cars were down 14.4% to 20,061.

To help boost sales, automakers are starting to offer incentives, Sackrison said. Telling of the tough year ahead, some of these incentives are being offered on autos that don’t usually have them, such as the Toyota Camry, he said.

The Camry is the top-selling auto in the nation, including in OC.

This year, car buyers who need a car might be looking to buy used autos.

Dealers might boost used auto sales this year, Sackrison said, through what they call certified pre-owned programs,used autos that have been looked over by the dealer’s mechanics.

The certified programs offer warranties on used autos. Some of these are marketed better than others and some are more attractive than others, Sackrison said.

BMW dealers kept their momentum in 2007 by selling more used autos through its certified pre-owned program. Crevier BMW of Santa Ana, Irvine BMW and Shelly BMW all sold more used autos last year.

More used auto sales this year will help BMW dealers particularly because OC is a big market for BMW, Sackrison said.


Allergan in Wonderland

Wonderland Bakery in Newport Beach has teamed up with Errand Solutions, a Chicago-based concierge company, to provide goodies to Allergan Inc. in Irvine.

Errand Solutions provides services such as dry cleaning and flowers for companies and hospitals as an employee perk. Now, Allergan workers can order birthday cakes and other baked gift tins from Errand through Wonderland Bakery.

Wonderland Bakery is headed by Sondra Ames and her daughter, chief baker Allyson Ames. Wonderland is slated to open in 10 more locations with Errand Solutions, including at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, six locations of the New York-based Presbyterian Hospitals and Methodist Hospital in Arcadia.

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