May 25,2015
Japanese car makers now enjoy nearly 50% of the California market
The California new vehicle market continued to post consistently strong results in the First Quarter of 2015 says an industry group. New light vehicle registrations in the state increased 12.1 percent during the first three months of this year versus last year, the 18th consecutive quarterly improvement, and the fourth in a row that exceeded 8 percent. US car sales improved just 2.9 % by contrast.
New car sales were up 10% compared to 15% for new trucks .
California New Car Dealers Association predicts that new vehicle registrations for all of this year will exceed 1.9 million units, and it’s possible that the total could reach 2 million in 2015 or 2016. Other key trends in the state market.
Among the top 15 selling brands, Jeep, Subaru, Mazda, BMW, Lexus, and Kia had the biggest percentage increases during the first three months of 2015. New registrations for each of the six brands increased by more than 15 percent.
Japanese car makers now enjoy nearly 50% of the California market compared to 27% for domestic made cars.Japanese brand registrations increased 13.3 percent in the First Quarter and market share was up 0.6 points. Korean brand registrations improved 14.5 percent.
Hybrid car sales declined by market share to 5% compared to7% in 2013.
Used vehicle registrations declined 4.1 percent. Three year old or newer vehicles were up 7.8 percent.