Despite the tumbling economy, Chrysler has been able to weather the storm. One of the big three that was reportedly in dire straits as far as financing operations is concerned, Chrysler LLC’s sales throughout the Midwest, the Rockies and the plains of America posted a retail sales increase of almost 3% over February.

The region has shown positive sales growth for two consecutive months despite industry trends. Chrysler LLC also bucked the trend nationwide reporting March U.S. total sales greater than 100,000 units for the first time since Sept. 2008 and increased retail market share to an estimated 10 percent.

On top of a second month of sales improvements, Dodge Ram 1500 was awarded the 2009 Truck of the Year and the Dodge Challenger was awarded the 2009 Car of the Year by the Rocky Mountain Automotive Press Association.

“We are honored by the continuing vote of confidence from our customers, dealers and media across this region. Our focus remains to keep rebuilding their confidence and trust,” said Fred Diaz, Director of the Denver Business Center, Chrysler LLC.

“The market is starting to show small signs of life which need to be nourished like seedlings,” said Jim Press, Vice Chairman and President, Chrysler LLC. “The fact that we exceeded 100,000 units for the first time since last fall is encouraging, and evidence that our improved quality, improved mileage as well as value represented in Employee Pricing Plus Plus are just what the doctor ordered for recession-wary customers who are reluctant to make long-term purchases. It’s too early to see a trend, but spring shows signs of hope.”

(Source) Press

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Regardless of the type of auto in the market today, anyone of them will get hit by the economic problems plaguing the world today. Retail new-vehicle sales during the first 17 selling days of March were down by 40 percent compared with the same period one year ago, according to J.D. Power and Associates, which gathers real-time transaction data from more than 10,000 dealerships across the United States.

New-vehicle retail sales for the entire month of March are projected to come in at 633,000 units, compared with 1.07 million units a year ago. Retail sales in February totaled 557,000 units. To better reflect consumer demand for new vehicles, J.D. Power and Associates focuses on retail sales, which include only dealership sales and leases to private parties and does not include fleet sales.

The crossover utility vehicle (CUV) segment is generating the greatest year-over-year segment share growth, up by three percentage points since March 2008. In contrast, the traditional utility vehicle, compact car and midsize car segments are generating the greatest year-over-year declines in segment share. A proliferation of new CUV models has been introduced to capitalize on this shift in consumer demand. A total of nine new models have been introduced since February 2008.

(Source) Press

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Being able to sell cars online and reaching it at the $100 million plateau is a feat that many are sure to envy. iBidMotors was able to do it and chances are the trend is bound to increase. The milestone vehicle was purchased by John O’Rourke and was sold by J&S AutoHaus of Ewing N.J.

“We were one of iBidMotors first clients and it has proven to be very profitable for us. Over the last few months we sold over $200,000 in retail sales as a result of the iBidMotors site,” said Peter Marich, president of J&S AutoHaus.

“iBidMotors provides car dealers a tremendous amount of value. During these recessionary times pre-owned cars are the life-line to dealerships across the country,” said Schiff.

iBidMotors continually strives to improve the Internet sales channel for car dealers by also providing enhanced dealer analytics, unlimited picture capabilities, vehicle videos and improved search capabilities. Site functionality also provides a great user experience during the online shopping process.

(Source) Press

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This piece of news may not be surprising but it is really the figures that should be taken into consideration. As far as light vehicle sales are concerned, sales for the first 22 days of February were down nearly 38 percent compared with the same period one year ago, according to J.D. Power and Associates, which gathers real-time transaction data from more than 10,000 dealerships across the United States.

February’s new-vehicle retail sales are expected to come in at 580,000 units, down 34 percent compared to 913,000 units a year ago, with the volume adjusted for differences in the numbers of selling days for each period.

To better reflect consumer demand for new vehicles, J.D. Power and Associates focuses on retail sales, which include only dealership sales and leases to private parties and do not include fleet sales.

Total sales for the month of February are forecasted to come in at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) of 9.1 million units. This represents a 39 percent decline from one year ago, but a 14 percent gain from January 2009, selling day adjusted.

(Source) Press

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