The Costa Mesa-based Orange County Automobile Dealers Association’s latest auto sales report took a positive tone.
“The current sales slump will pave the way for an eventual recovery that will almost certainly begin later this year,” the report said. “Admittedly, part of the rebound is simply due to the fact that sales cannot get much lower.”
New auto registrations in OC, a barometer of sales, fell 22% in 2008 from 2007, worse than the national decline of 18%.
The fourth quarter was worst of all. Nearly all auto brands saw double digit declines here.
A recovery will be gradual because consumers are trying to lower their debt, according to the association’s report. That’s hard to do because of job losses and stalled wages, it said.
Last year was a tough year for nearly every brand. But some fared relatively better, including Honda, Volkswagen, Mazda and Hyundai, which increased local market share.
Toyota/Scion, which sells the most autos in OC, was down 0.8 percentage points to about 23% of the local market. Honda moved up 2 points, grabbing 14% of the market.
For luxury vehicles, Mercedes-Benz and BMW slightly boosted market share. Mercedes was up 0.4 points to 6.4%. BMW was up 0.4 points to 5.5%.
Lexus lost market share. It was down 0.6 points to 5.4%.
Sales of subcompacts, which include Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Mini Cooper, got a boost last year. They’re expected to continue to do relatively well, even after gas prices dropped late last year.
The Toyota Yaris topped the entry car segment with 36% of the market, followed by Honda Fit, 23.4%, Nissan Versa, 18%, Scion xD, 9%, and Hyundai Accent, 6%.
Mercedes E-Class ruled the luxury market at 21%, followed by BMW 5-Series at 16%. The Mercedes S-Class is next at 9%, followed by the Mercedes CLK-Class, 6.3%, and Lexus LS, 6.2%.
Hummer saw the biggest percentage decline of any brand in 2008, falling 55% to 264 autos.
A few brands ended up for the year: Volkswagen, up 11.5% to 3,172 autos sold; Mini Cooper, up 21% to 1,256; Subaru, up 10% to 950; Kia, up 86% to 819; and Jaguar, up 26% to 440.
Jaguar’s sales got a boost from its SF sedan. Jaguar, formerly part of Ford Motor Co., saw its global sales increase 8% in 2008 to 65,000 cars under new owner Tata Motors Ltd. of India.
Tata last year also bought Land Rover from Ford. But that brand still is struggling. Land Rover’s OC registrations were down 45% in 2008 to 858 autos.
Shops Goes Solar
The Shops at Mission Viejo’s solar roof is complete.
Simon Property Group Inc. of Indianapolis owns the mall, along with several others in OC, including The Block at Orange and Laguna Hills Mall.
Houston’s Element Markets LLC started the solar panel roof project on Dec. 3 and finished later that month.
The company hopes to put solar panels on other Simon malls, said Element Markets spokesman Randall Lack. No further projects have been announced yet.
The Shops at Mission Viejo is opening teen retailer A & #233;ropostale in the spring at the former Discovery Channel Store spot. Next year, Hollister Co. and Swarovski are slated to open at the mall.
Teen retailer Hollister, part of Abercrombie & Fitch Co., will share a space with an existing retailer.
Swarovski will move into the space of Kevin Jewelers, which will relocate and expand within the mall.
Also at The Shops, Limited Too, a tween retailer, has converted into a Justice store.
Last year, Tween Brands Inc., based in Columbus, Ohio, shuttered the Limited Too brand and converted 500 of its Limited Too shops into Justice shops.
The Justice brand started in 2004. Limited Too was founded in 1987.
