WANADA area sales up 12 percent in second quarter

WANADA area sales up 12 percent in second quarter

Washington area auto sales rose by a robust 12 percent in the second quarter and a solid 8.3 percent through June compared with a year ago. That performance is much stronger than national sales, which increased 1.4 percent in the first half of the year. Area figures are from the WANADA Area Report from R.L. Polk. U.S. figures are from Automotive News.

Area sales for the 11 counties and DC for the yearês first half show that 2016 sales will likely top last yearês total of 326,516, as sales through June reached 169,665. The strongest sales month was May, at 34,782, followed by June (33,420) and April (28,792).

With gas prices remaining low the first half of the year, area truck sales topped 55 percent of vehicle sales. Any figure above 50 percent is an historic anomaly for the Washington area, but is becoming the norm in an era of low fuel prices. Area light truck sales first reached 50 percent a year ago, in the first half of 2015.

One trend that has not changed is the popularity of imports among area buyers. They made up more than 66 percent of sales in the first half of the year.

For the full WANADA Area Report for the second quarter, click here and sign in to the members only section of the WANADA website.