Fewer go get tags for new vehicles

State sees drop for 2nd month

New-vehicle registrations fell for the second straight month in March, the first time in almost three years that registrations declined in successive months, Cross-Sell of Lexington, Ky., which provides market analysis for the automotive industry, said Monday.

There were 6,945 new vehicles registered in Arkansas in March, down 8.5 percent from almost 7,600 vehicles registered in the state in March last year. Registrations were also off in February by 5 percent, compared with February last year.

Not since June and July of 2010 have new-vehicle registrations in the booming auto market lost ground for two straight months.

The two-month decline should not have been unexpected, said Michael Pakko, chief economist at the Institute for Economic Advancement at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

“We have been seeing double-digit increases month after month,” Pakko said. “We had a lot of ground to make up after the recession, but we are getting back to pre-recession levels of auto sales, nationally and in Arkansas. So you would expect those growth rates to slow to a more sustainable, long-term level.”

Registrations were up 46 percent in the state in January, the 20th month out of the previous 24 that titles increased.

Nationally, 1.45 million vehicles were sold in March, a 3.4 percent gain from March last year. That was the highest total for sales nationally since August 2007.

March is generally a good month for auto sales because many buyers use their tax refunds for a down payment on a vehicle.

Factors that also helped sales in March: Fuel prices were lower than last year and interest rates were low.

Another reason for the discrepancy in March sales nationally and registrations in Arkansas is the lag time between sales in the state and when registrations have to be completed, said Dennis Jungmeyer, president of the Arkansas Automobile Dealers Association.

Totals for Arkansas vehicle titles aren’t a precise comparison with vehicle sales from month to month because Arkansans are allowed 30 days to register cars or trucks after a purchase. So March titles represent, for the most part, sales in February.

Jungmeyer said he believes auto sales in Arkansas in March likely followed the national increase.

Arkansas’ drop in new-vehicle registrations extended to the used-car market last month.

There were 14,547 used vehicles titled after dealer sales in March, down more than 18 percent from 17,800 in March last year. Another 21,817 vehicles were titled in private party deals last month, down almost 20 percent from almost 27,250 in March 2012.

Chevrolet registrations totaled 1,195 last month, the most of any make in the state, followed by Ford, with 1,063 titles. The Ford full-size pickup accounted for 424 registrations last month, slightly higher than Chevrolet full size pickup registrations of 420.

There were 1,603 full-size pickups titled last month, accounting for almost one of every four vehicles registered in Arkansas.

Business, Pages 23 on 04/23/2013

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