Colorado Springs new vehicle market slows for third consecutive month
El Paso County’s new car and truck market slowed in June for a third consecutive month and the fourth time in the past five months, according to a report from the county Clerk and Recorder’s Office.
The 1,967 new vehicles registered last month represented a 13.5 percent decline from June 2017, the biggest percentage drop this year. The total for the first half of the year is off 3.8 percent from the same period last year.
Colorado Springs auto dealers are expecting better times in coming months, courtesy of a hailstorm that ranks as the second-worst in the city’s history, said Phill Emmert, executive director of the Colorado Springs Auto Dealers Association. A July 2016 hailstorm boosted new vehicle registrations for about six months.
The June 13 storm caused an estimated $169 million in insured losses from nearly 26,000 auto and homeowners insurance claims filed, the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association reported last month. The damage estimates include 17,351 car insurance claims totaling more than $104 million and 8,648 homeowner’s insurance claims at more than $65 million.
Much of June’s decline resulted from falling registrations of Toyotas and Subarus; both were down 32.5 percent from June 2017 to 216 and 193, respectively. Chevrolet and Honda posted the largest gains among the top 10-selling makes at 59 percent and 30.5 percent, respectively.
The dropping registration numbers locally came as nationwide new vehicle sales increased in June for the second consecutive month, by 5.4 percent to 1.54 million vehicles. A 12.4 percent jump in new truck sales more than offset a 7.4 percent decline in new car sales.
Nationwide sales in the first half of the year were up 2.1 percent to 8.57 million vehicles with a 10 percent gain in new truck sales barely offsetting an 11.6 percent drop in new car sales.
Statewide numbers for June aren’t yet available. April new vehicle registrations, the most recent available, surged 30.8 percent from April 2017 to 19,253. Statewide registrations for the first four months of the year were up 4.2 percent from the same period last year, to 69,649.
Registration numbers don’t exactly reflect sales by local dealers, as buyers have up to 60 days to register a new vehicle in the county where they live, not where they bought it.
The numbers don’t include heavy trucks, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, recreational vehicles and trailers.
Contact Wayne Heilman 636-0234 Facebook www.facebook.com/ wayne.heilman Twitter twitter.com/wayneheilman
Contact Wayne Heilman 636-0234
Facebook www.facebook.com/wayne.heilman
Twitter twitter.com/wayneheilman





