Domestic-car sales up on LI, Japanese down
Huntington Honda on East Jericho Turnpike in Huntington. (Sept. 29, 2011) Credit: Heather Walsh
Rising sales of American-brand cars on Long Island in June and July failed to offset steep sales declines at dealers selling Japanese cars, as new auto registrations on Long Island fell 7.7 percent during the two months from the weak year-earlier period.
The figures from Michigan-based automotive information company R.L. Polk & Co., and based on new-vehicle registration figures, showed registrations of new Japanese brand cars and trucks on Long Island down 23.7 percent in June and July from a year earlier, continuing a trend that began in April, a month after an earthquake and tsunami that crippled much of Japan's auto and parts production, affecting Japanese models assembled in North America as well. Figures for August aren't yet available.
Increased sales at Detroit, European and Korean carmakers didn't make up for the Japanese falloff. The decline in June and July sales erased most of the gains made in those months last year over 2009.
Rebecca Lindland, an auto analyst based in Greenwich, Conn., for the consulting firm IHS Automotive, said that, while production of Japanese autos has largely returned to normal, automakers are still playing catchup. "We are still seeing inventory levels lower than we would like to see for sustainable sales," she said.
Meanwhile, she said, bad economic news has hurt consumer confidence, hurting auto sales industrywide.
"The places where we need to see good news are in housing and employment, and we're not seeing it," she said.
Honda, Nissan and Toyota dominate among Japanese carmakers on Long Island -- the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord are the most popular and second most popular models, respectively, according to a market snapshot last October done for Newsday by Polk.
At Riverhead Toyota, co-owner Ted Lucki said that in June and July he was short of Prius hybrids as gasoline prices remained high, as well as RAV4 sport utility vehicles, Corolla compacts and Camrys. Now, he says, supplies are improved, with redesigned 2012 Camrys arriving in recent weeks.
"We're going to have a big fourth quarter," he said. "The product is going to be on the ground."
Honda spokesman Chris Naughton in Manhattan said delayed availability of parts for the redesigned Civic, which went on sale in April, restricted production of the cars. "Inventories are recovering," he said.
Among Japanese brands, only Nissan managed to turn things around in July after a weak June, showing a small 1.2 percent gain from a year earlier.
Registrations of Detroit brands rose by 8 percent in June and July from a year earlier. Those of South Korea's Hyundai and Kia models rose by 24 percent, and registrations of new European cars and trucks rose by 6.1 percent.
