The California New Car Dealers Association says the California new vehicle market had another double digit percentage increase in the Second Quarter of this year, with new light vehicle registrations improving 12.4 percent versus a year earlier. It was the eleventh consecutive quarterly year-over-year increase. Outlook is now projecting that this year’s annual total will approach 1.7 million units, up 11.1 percent from 2011 and more than a 60 percent increase over the recessionary low point in 2009. Other key trends in the state market:
Among the top 15 selling brands, Subaru, Dodge, BMW, and Chevrolet had the biggest percentage increases in the first half of this year. New registrations for each of the four brands increased by more than 22 percent.Domestic brand registrations increased 19.3 percent during the first six months.
Meanwhile,used car registration was down during the first half of the year by nearly 5%.
Hybrid and electric cars sales in the California market are now about 9% of all sales.