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Car, truck and SUV sales across Greater Houston topped 31,000 units for the month of April, according to the latest figures from InfoNation’s TexAuto Facts. That’s down from nearly 38,000 in March, a rate that InfoNation president Steve McDowell describes as “extraordinarily high.” He says a better gauge of dealers’ performance is the strength of sales between April 2013 and April of this year.
“The twelve-month period ending in April was the highest for any twelve-month period since July of 2002,” McDowell says. “And I attribute it to continued high employment in Houston, and I also think consumers have their confidence level up due to the stock market and home prices in the region being up, so people feel maybe they can afford to buy a new vehicle.”
Total vehicle sales for the year to date in the Houston region are up 12.5 percent compared to the same period in 2013. Nationally, year-to-date sales are up about 3 percent compared to the same period last year.
Vehicle sales reached 361,838 for the 12 months ending April ’14, the highest 12-month total since 363,236 autos were sold in July ’02 and slightly higher than the 360,252 sold in 12-month period ending July ’07. According to TexAuto Facts, published by InfoNation, Inc. of Sugar Land, Houston-area dealers sold 31,328 vehicles in April ’14, up 10.5 percent from 28,351 in April ’13.
The average retail sales price per vehicle was $33,890 in April ’14, the lowest since October ’13 and fell below $34,000 for the first time this year. InfoNation notes that increased manufacturer incentives and aggressive competition in the light truck segment have been exerting downward pressure on prices.
