WARREN - Area car dealers sold 167 more new automobiles in October than they did in October 2011, according to statistics released Friday.
The 8 percent increase marked the first time since July that 2012 monthly sales outpaced comparable 2011 sales. Still 2012 local year-to-date sales of 20,420, are lagging behind 2011 sales of 21,176 by almost 4 percent.
The Automobile Dealers Association of Eastern Ohio reported Friday that 1,982 new cars were sold in October at dealerships in Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties. A total of 1,815 new cars were sold in October 2011.
Bob & Chuck Eddy Chrysler Dodge Jeep was the leading new-car seller in the tri-county area, with buyers taking delivery on 131 new cars at the Austintown dealership last month. Greenwood Chrevrolet, also in Austintown, finished with the second-highest sales at 125.
Rounding out the top five new car sales were Taylor Kia with 117, Sweeney Chevrolet with 96 and, tied for fifth was Boardman Subaru and Fairway Ford, each with 91. All six dealerships are located in Mahoning County.
Trumbull County new car sales were led by Klaben Ford Lincoln of Warren with 66, followed by Apostolakis Honda Mazda in Cortland with 64 new car sales. Spitzer Autoworld Lordstown sold 56 and Diane Sauer Chevrolet sold 54.
Statistics show October's 3,508 used car sales in the tri-county area also outpaced numbers from a year ago, 3,234.
Greenwood Chevrolet led used car sales with 131, Fred Martin Ford Mercedes, also in Austintown, sold 101 used cars in October and Taylor Kia sold 95.
Chevrolet remained the top-selling local make, with the Lordstown-built Cruze outpacing all other models. Statistics show 119 Cruzes were sold locally in October, down about 17 percent from last October. The Chevy Silverado 1500 full-size pickup truck ranked second in local sales at 81 and the Ford F-150 came in third with buyers taking delivery on 76 pickups. Small SUVs ranked fourth and fifth. Chevy Equinox was fourth with 68 and Ford Escape was fifth with 62 deliveries.