Car Sales are Up!

According to an AP release (found here on MSNBC), car sales were up in January for just about every company, when compared to last year. In a somewhat misleading headline, however, it is implied that people are returning to buying trucks ("Trucks help life sales at GM and Ford"). Reading the article, it's clear that the increase in truck sales is largely attributable to businesses returning to the market, an excellent sign for the economy.

For Kia and Chrysler, it's the crossovers that are moving. Kia's Sorento, a small crossover, leads the way for them, and Jeep's Grand Cherokee, a new, large crossover, had sales that were up 130% over the old model's sales from last January. The old model rode on a truck-based platform. These crossover vehicles, front-wheel-drive vehicles based on car platforms, provide the versatility that station wagons did several decades ago, while remaining more fuel efficient than the truck-based SUVs that were so popular only a few years ago.

For Chevrolet, the new Cruze compact car slightly outdid the Cobalt's January 2010 sales, but significantly, it's sales were 90% to consumers, whereas the Cobalt, last year, went 60% to fleet use (company cars and rentals). Again, this is a good sign that people are more comfortable with their economic situations, and to me it says that people are interested in fuel-efficient transportation. With gasoline at $2.85/gallon here and over $3.00/gallon in many parts of the U.S., this is understandable. People haven't forgotten the $4.00/gallon prices of 2.5 years ago.

For some reason, fleet sales have dropped overall. I don't know what to make of that.

Regardless, when I'm driving to work every day, I'd much rather be surrounded by cars than trucks. I still can't see over the crossovers with my HHR, but if the proportion of cars to crossovers increases, it'll make the drive that much easier.