New car sales expected to grow by 1.1 million in 2010

(December 29, 2010) Pent-up demand is driving new vehicle sales to their highest level since 2008, an auto dealers trade group said.  Sales of light vehicles, on the decline since at least 2006, have accelerated this year, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association.

Paul Taylor, an NADA economist, said Tuesday that NADA officials look for sales to reach 11.5 million vehicles this year. In comparison, new vehicles sales reached 10.4 million in 2009.

In 2008, dealerships sold 13.2 million new vehicles while in 2007 they sold 16.1 million, the NADA said.

Taylor said improvements in the stock market and pent-up demand created from consumers putting off purchases will push up car purchases next year. The period between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day tends to be one of the briskest for dealers, Taylor said.

A combination of consumers armed with time off from work and cash given to them as gifts, along with heavy promotion by the auto industry fuel the increased demand, he said.

Source: Dayton Daily News