Truck sales continue to dominate local sales

New vehicle sales are back to where they were before the financial crisis of 2008 and trucks are leading the way.

Light truck sales grew 23.7 percent when comparing this September to last year’s, according to a report released this month from Autodata Solutions, an automotive industry consulting firm.

In Louisiana, light trucks made up nearly a third of all consumer vehicles on the road in 2013, according to the Federal Highway Administration.

According to IHS Automotive, an automotive industry analytical agency, new vehicle sales dropped more than 40 percent between 2008 and 2009 due to the financial crisis of 2008. Vehicle sales are now back to where they were before the crash, but that’s not the only market factor driving up sales.

Bob Israel, president of the Louisiana Automobile Dealers Association, said when gas prices get high, people tend to hold off on buying any new vehicles.

“As soon as [prices] start to fall, they go back to the vehicles that they like the best,” he said. “And that is trucks and SUVs.”

Only a few, Israel said, opt to buy a hybrid or economy car instead of a traditional car because of the price of gas.

Here in the Bayou Region, though, many are fearful of the effect on the local economy that low oil prices have.

Despite that, truck sales at Trapp Cadillac Chevrolet are still holding steady, according to owner Heinke Trapp.

“We haven’t seen a decrease in our truck and SUV sales,” Trapp said. “Cadilac SUV sales – ESV and Escalade – have diminished. Now that’s strictly market driven, economy driven.”

That is indicative of what Israel says is a shift in demand from larger SUVs to crossover vehicles. Crossover vehicles are essentially smaller SUVs.

Also, Israel points out, is a growing demand for larger, more expensive trucks.

Prices for new vehicles have steadily increased each year according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Also, new vehicles are better engineered and last longer than they ever did before. The average age of a car or truck in America is 11.5 years, compared to 5.1 years in 1961.

Both Israel and Trapp said it’s because cars and trucks are simply built better.

“We’re seeing vehicles with higher miles now more than ever before,” Trapp said. “One-hundred-and-fifty to 200,000 miles isn’t uncommon now.”

Another trend Israel said he is seeing is younger couples, many with small children, are buying two vehicles: one a crossover or SUV and the other a sedan, mainly Hyundai and Ford sedans that offer amenities that used to be exclusive to luxury car makes.

“Because you have a husband and a wife who frequently make equal pay,” Israel said. “And so they can afford to have a nice SUV when their kids are around and a sporty car to go out to dinner in.” •