Cars And Light

New car sales in Maryland, an indicator of the state's economic health, declined nearly 15 percent last month from a year ago while they increased slightly nationwide.The decline here marked the ninth time in 10 months that sales did not keep pace with the corresponding period in 1995, according to registration figures released yesterday by the Motor Vehicle Administration."I'm not sure why, but it seems that sales are more anemic in the Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic region than in other parts of the country, said John Sophocles, general manager of Jerry's Chevrolet in the Parkville section of Baltimore County.

The auto industry cruises into this year the same way it left 1994 -- on a roll.This could be the industry's best year ever, said Edward Lapham, the executive editor of Automotive News, a Detroit-based industry publication. "We'll be teasing with the record of 16 million units [cars and light trucks] set in 1988."Mr. Lapham thinks 1995 will be a very good year and perhaps a great one if, as he puts it: "Interest rates stay down, the economy continues to grow at a moderate rate and people stay happy."

New car sales -- an important barometer in measuring the country's economic health -- have been on the rise this year. Across the country, sales of cars and light trucks are up about 9 percent over the 1993 selling pace.In Maryland, the gain is even greater. According to figures compiled by the Motor Vehicle Administration, vehicle sales for the first 10 months of the year are 17 percent ahead of the 1993 sales pace.Can this strong sales pace continue? What is your forecast for 1995?Alfred ShockleyPresident, Maryland New Car and Truck Dealers AssociationI'm cautiously optimistic that 1995 will be another good year for dealers in the state.

WASHINGTON -- The contentious effort to require ultra-clean and even electric cars in Maryland and other smoggy East Coast states received a boost yesterday.A multistate commission asked the federal government to require California-style emission controls on all new cars and light trucks sold from Maine to Northern Virginia by fall 1998.Over objections from four states, officials from Maryland and eight other states on the Ozone Transport Commission voted to petition the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to replace federal motor vehicle pollution standards with California's more stringent limits.

Maryland's plan to adopt California's strict auto emissions standards is unlikely to curb smog in the Baltimore and Washington areas as much or as quickly as predicted, says a study released yesterday by a Johns Hopkins University pollution expert.Dr. Hugh Ellis, a professor of environmental engineering at Hopkins, concludes there may be cheaper and more reliable ways to reduce ozone pollution in the state than with so-called "California cars."Dr. Ellis' study puts a dent in a proposal by Maryland and some other states that low-emission vehicles, including some powered by batteries, be sold from Maine to Virginia beginning in 1997.

"California cars" are coming to Maryland. Or are they?In the name of cleaner air, Marylanders shopping for new cars or light trucks could be required to buy specially equipped, low-emission models as early as 1997 under legislation given final approval by the state House of Delegates yesterday.But the measure, which passed the House 123-to-2, has had so many conditions added to it at the behest of the auto and oil industries that some environmentalists fear the law might never take effect.

"California cars" are coming to Maryland. Or are they?In the name of cleaner air, Marylanders shopping for new cars or light trucks would find only specially equipped, low-emission models on the market as early as 1997 under legislation given final approval by the state House of Delegates yesterday.But the measure, which passed the House 123-to-2, has had so many conditions added to it at the behest of the auto and oil industries that some environmentalists fear the law might never take effect.

DETROIT -- The nation's auto industry reported yesterday strong sales for late June, propelled by what executives said was rising consumer confidence and a stronger economy.The news seemed to run counter to the gloomy economic picture painted by last week's report that the nation's unemployment rate had risen sharply in June. But auto executives said the cut in interest rates that followed the release of the jobless data would help the industry."With the recent reduction in short-term interest rates, we expect to see even stronger vehicle sales in the second half of the year," said James B. Fitzpatrick, vice president of marketing at General Motors.

DETROIT -- Sales of domestically built cars and light trucks dropped 10 percent in May from a year earlier, but on a seasonally adjusted basis car sales alone were slightly stronger than in the previous month, leading to some hope that the automotive recession may have bottomed out.Car sales, a barometer of economic health, are being closely watched for signs that a recovery may be under way. But statistics from a single 10-day period or just one month are...

Sales of new and used cars in Maryland dropped nearly 44 percent in July, compared with the same month last year, according to state statistics.Spokesmen for Maryland's auto industry were at a loss to explain the dramatic decline, which hit a business already riding out a prolonged sales slump. One suggested that the U.S. military intervention in the Middle East might have been a factor, although the effects of Iraq's Aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait will not appear until the August sales figures are ready.