A decline in first-quarter auto registrations was expected. Even so, it wasn’t pretty.
Auto registrations, a barometer of new auto sales, were down nearly 20% in the quarter from a year earlier, with January being the worst month, according to the Costa Mesa-based Orange County Automobile Dealers Association. In January, registrations fell 28% from a year earlier.
OC’s decline was more than in Los Angeles County, which saw a 16.3% drop, and nationally, which was down 7.6%.
This year, auto dealers are expected to see a 10% drop in registrations. Next year is looking better with a projected 3.1% rise.
Honda, Lexus, Nissan and Hyundai slightly improved their first-quarter market share in OC from the fourth quarter.
Of all auto brands, Toyota had the largest share of the local market at 23% in the first quarter, down 0.4%. Honda was second at 12.7%, up 0.7%.
Ford had 7.7% of the market, unchanged as the county’s third-largest brand. Merecedes-Benz, No. 4 overall and the county’s top luxury brand, saw a 0.2% dip to 6.4% market share.
Lexus, with the fifth largest by market share, ticked up 0.6%, for 6% of the market, followed by Nissan, which was up 0.4% to 5.4%. Hyundai, at No. 9, saw an increase of 0.1%.
Toyota, Honda, Mercedes, BMW, Hyundai, Mazda, Volkswagen and Infiniti are predicted to finish better this year from 2007. Projected decliners include Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge and Acura.
With rising gas prices, subcompact cars saw a 1.2% increase in first-quarter market share from a year earlier. Subcompacts now make up nearly 16% of the market and are the largest category. Subcompacts include the Honda Civic, the Toyota Prius, the Mini Cooper and the Mazda 3.
Midsize sport utility vehicles, also called crossovers, saw a 2% boost in market share. Crossover SUVs include the Toyota Highlander, the Ford Edge and the GMC Acadia.
The crossover category has 5.1% of the market, still trailing the midsize luxury SUV category, which has 6.6% of the market.
The auto with the most registrations overall was the Toyota Camry, with 2,451 registrations.
In the subcompact category, the Honda Civic had the most at 1,462, followed by the Toyota Corolla, 1,234, and the Toyota Prius with 883 registrations. The Prius beats out the Mercedes-Benz C Class, the entry-level Mercedes model, which had 873 registrations.
The biggest brand decliners in the first quarter: Land Rover, which dropped 36.4% to 294 registrations; Saturn, which fell 46% to 247 vehicles; Hummer, which fell 36% to 99 registrations; and Jaguar, which dropped 46% to 63 cars.
In luxury autos, Mercedes-Benz saw a 22.4% drop in first-quarter registrations. But Mercedes kept its lead as OC’s top luxury brand with 2,231 registrations. Lexus dropped 26.4% to 2,080 autos; and BMW dropped 23.3% to 1,791 autos.
For the year, Mercedes is predicted to finish with 9,294 auto registrations, down 6.8% from 2007, followed by BMW with 8,578 autos, up 0.8%; and Lexus at 8,536 autos, down 15% for the year.
Dealers Make Ward’s List
Four OC dealers made Ward’s e-dealer 100 list: Power Toyota in Irvine, Power Toyota in Buena Park, House of Imports in Buena Park and Elmore Toyota in Westminster.
The dealers on the list are the top sellers of autos over the Internet. The Power dealers are owned by Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based AutoNation Inc., one of the largest dealer groups in the nation.
No. 19 Power Toyota Irvine sold 1,576 new autos and 369 used autos online for a total of 1,945.
The top e-dealer is Dave Smith Motors, based in Kellogg, Idaho. It sold 9,311 autos online.
No. 48 Power Toyota in Buena Park sold 1,258 new and 207 used for a total of 1,465. No. 53 Mercedes dealer House of Imports sold 952 new autos and 437 used autos for a total of 1,389.
No. 74 Elmore Toyota sold 1,038 new autos and 72 used autos for a total of 1,110.
Tan Rollout
LA Sunset Tan is capitalizing on the success of its reality TV Show “Sunset Tan” on E! and expanding in Southern California, including into Orange County.
The Beverly Hills-based company, with five stores, is expanding through franchises and plans to open 20 to 25 stores in the next five years in Newport Beach, Laguna Niguel, Irvine, Laguna Beach and Mission Viejo. Nationwide, it plans 500 altogether.
LA Sunset Tan has used celebrities, such as Britney Spears, Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton, to promote its luxury brand, which uses tanning beds and sells spray-on tans. There’s even the spray-on cocktail service,customers receive cocktails while getting sprayed.
Men’s Store Opening
At-Ease Men’s store has opened at Crystal Cove Promenade in Newport Beach. The store sells men’s fashion such as Tommy Bahama, Cutter & Buck and Sperry Topsider. Given its proximity to the ocean,right across the street,the interior was designed to have a luxurious yacht-like feeling.
