Vehicle Sales

Spurred on by record incentives, Maryland consumers bought more new cars during August than during any month since last October, according to figures released by the Motor Vehicle Administration. Dealers sold 38,965 new cars and light trucks during August, a gain of 4 percent over a strong August 2001. For dealers, it was their best August since 1991, when the MVA resumed releasing title registration figures, which equate with sales. Anirban Basu, director of applied economics at Towson University's RESI economic research institute, said that while new-car sales are still a leading economic indicator, they are being influenced by the auto manufacturer's zero-percent financing plans and lucrative rebates.

Laurence Levitan, Commission on Maryland's Fiscal StructureThe task force charged with figuring out how to pay for Maryland's future needs began looking yesterday at possibly increasing the gasoline tax or other fees to pay for the state's transportation projects. Without increased funding, transportation officials warned, the state will fall behind on repairing aging roads and bridges, and on expanding mass transit, boosting security at airports and the port, and replacing the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

New-car sales continued to roll along at a robust pace in Maryland in March, according to figures released yesterday by the state Motor Vehicle Administration. State motorists bought 34,225 new cars and light trucks during March, a gain of 3.2 percent when compared with sales during March last year. The 3.2 percent increase in new-vehicle sales in Maryland compares with a 5.1 percent decline in sales nationwide. It marked the sixth consecutive month in which vehicle sales in Maryland were higher than during the corresponding period of the previous year.

DETROIT - General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler division said yesterday that U.S. vehicle sales rose last month as zero percent loans helped the industry record its second-best sales year. Sales increased 7.2 percent over December 2000 at General Motors and 2 percent at Ford, including imports and big trucks. Chrysler gained 6.2 percent, beating analyst forecasts. Honda Motor Co.'s U.S. sales rose 7.8 percent, while one analyst predicted a 2.9 percent increase for Toyota Motor Corp.

General Motors Corp. announced yesterday that it will extend its business-stimulating zero-percent financing plan by another 18 days. GM's "Keep America Rolling" program was scheduled to end Oct. 31, but will run until Nov. 18. "This highly successful marketing program is clearly achieving its objectives to stimulate vehicle sales and to help stimulate economic activity during this critical time," William J. Lovejoy, GM group vice president for vehicle...

DETROIT - Not even aggressive discounting by automakers could lift sales of new cars and light trucks last month, and bloated inventories of unsold models have led to the closing for a week of 10 of the nation's 55 auto assembly plants. Auto sales are the first important economic indicator to come out at the beginning of each month, and yesterday's results were another sign that growth in the U.S. economy has been slowing somewhat recently. Although sales have leveled off at a high level by historical standards, they are increasingly being sustained by ever more generous rebates and low-rate loans, rather than by strong consumer demand.

Sales of new cars and light trucks in Maryland shot up 15.1 percent last month, well above the national level, according to figures released yesterday by the state Motor Vehicle Administration. It was the 20th consecutive month in which sales were higher than in the corresponding period of the previous year. "We are the benefactors of a good, strong economy," said Chuck Boyle, chairman of the Maryland New Car and Truck Dealers Association, which represents the majority of the state's 350 new-car dealerships.

New car and light truck sales in Maryland gained 4 percent in April, according to figures from the state Motor Vehicle Administration. Although the gain was nothing like the 24 percent and 35 percent increases of March and February, respectively, it did establish April 2000 as the 18th consecutive month in which sales were higher than in the corresponding month of the previous year. In fact, showroom business was stronger last month than any April since 1991, when the MVA resumed releasing title-registration figures, which equate with sales.

The new car and light truck sales boom in Maryland continues at a surprising pace, according to figures released yesterday by the state Motor Vehicle Administration. Dealers sold 24 percent more vehicles last month than in March 1999. Showroom business was stronger last month than in any March since 1991, when the MVA resumed releasing title-registration figures, which equate to sales. It was the 17th consecutive month in which sales were higher than in the corresponding month of the previous year.

New cars and light trucks sold at a blistering pace in Maryland last month, more than double the rise in national sales, according to figures released yesterday by the state Motor Vehicle Administration. "It's mind-boggling," Chuck Boyle, president of Boyle Buick Inc. in Abingdon, said of the 35.4 percent increase in vehicle sales last month over February's sales in 1999. Boyle is also chairman of the Maryland New Car and Truck Dealers Association, which represents the majority of Maryland's 350 new-car dealers.