October wildfires drive up car sales in Sonoma County
In fact, new car registrations in
The sales spike was driven, in part, by calamity. Thousands of cars were damaged or destroyed in the October wildfires, forcing residents to buy replacements.
New car registrations rose sharply during the last three months of the year in
"We're pleased we've been able to help 46 people replace cars they lost in the fires," said
The state
But the fires were not the only force driving up car sales.
New car registrations in
"We've essentially doubled the number of cars sold from 2009 and we reached what I would call market stability," said
Nationally, new car sales dropped 1.7 percent last year to 17.1 million vehicles.
Analysts said the primary reasons for the strong car market were a growing economy -- the gross domestic product grew 2.3 percent in 2017 -- and relatively stable gas prices.
"We track pretty much with the overall economy," Maas said. "Car sales are like the proverbial canary in the coal mine."
Average gas prices in
Most people are willing to accept gas prices between
Overall,
The popularity of trucks in
"The new (
Hansel agreed that 2017 was good year for local dealers, though data he reviewed that represents about 60 percent of the new car market in
"It wasn't our best year ever," he said of 2017. "But it was up there with one of the best."
Another bright spot was electric vehicles, which represented about 2 percent of Hansel sales. Statewide, electric vehicles accounted for 2.7 percent of sales in 2017, double the amount from four years earlier. Hansel offered such selections such as the
Incentives are essentially the key to the market and buyers dry up without them, Hansel said.
"When there is extra incentives in all the electric vehicles, we do see movement," Hansel said. "It's when the stars align."
Better financing has also helped boost car sales. Lenders have relaxed some of their credit criteria from some years ago to make it easier to place customers into loans, one local car dealer said privately.
Felder said the auto lending market remains competitive.
"We want to be consistent that they know when they go to Redwood they can get a (loan) decision and quickly get paid," Felder said of auto dealers.
The
The new car market is predicted to be strong again in 2018, though declining slightly in
Approximately one-third of new car sales involve a lease and those cars are now again showing back up in lots after the terms have expired, Swiecki said. Those newer models, offered at significantly lower prices than brand new cars, could slow down sales of new cars in future years.
"We have a flood of used cars now," he said. "If you want to buy now, there is supply out there."
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