New car sales in region see major upswing

Local car dealers are smiling these days.

And with good reason. Sales of new cars in the first quarter are up considerably compared to a year ago.

Sales of new cars are up 30 percent for the first quarter at Gurley Leep Automotive Family.

Chrysler, GM and Honda sales are up about 25 percent at Tyler Automotive’s three stores in Niles and Benton Harbor.

And then there’s Chevrolet, the new market share sales leader for new cars in Michiana.

According to Chevrolet’s own figures, Chevy new car sales in Michiana are up 46.3 percent compared to the first quarter in 2010, said Matt Helmkamp, president of Gates Chevy World in Mishawaka.

“Everything is selling right now,” said Mike Leep Sr., president of Gurley Leep.
“People held back, and now they are saying my car is worn out. I am ready. I am going to get a new car.”

Foreign car sales are also doing well, for now.

Gates Toyota in South Bend is enjoying a sizable increase in sales, Helmkamp said.
With 250 cars sold, Basney Honda is up 20 percent over the first quarter from a year ago, said general manager Jay Basney.

The surge hasn’t caught local auto dealers by surprise.

“Actually, we absolutely expected almost exactly what’s happening,” Scott Tyler, partner in Tyler Automotive, said. “There was a tremendous pent-up demand. It wasn’t our crystal ball. The industry expected this, and it’s playing out the waymany expected it to.”

Many customers have not been in the market for three years, Leep said. “They realize that the world is still going on and they are going to participate,” he said.

Though new to the area, Hall Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, which opened last July on McKinley Avenue and Main Street in Mishawaka, is exceeding projections on new and used car sales by 15 percent, said owner Dan Hall.

Hall said he doesn’t know if it’s the economy, the fact that it’s a new dealership or Chrysler’s own big national sales push as it introduces 16 new vehicles in 16 months, “but things are definitely going in the right direction.”

Even with the recent rise in gas prices, none of the dealers reports a slowdown.

But gas prices do concern them.

“It hasn’t affected us yet, but there’s that fear,” said Helmkamp, adding that sales at the Chevy dealership are up 62 percent in the first quarter. “This economy right now feels like we are doing better, but there’s a cloud out there, and I think that is wrapped up in the gas prices.”

Leep says people were already buying more fuel efficient cars.

“If it wasn’t for gas prices, I think people would feel like we are headed for a great summer,” Helmkamp said.

Chevy appears to be anyway, he said, adding that the Equinox is the top seller at his dealership.