Car, truck, and SUV sales in Houston rising

Majority are trucks and SUVs

Wendy Natt, Jun 12, 09.

After a long period of declining sales that stretched into February of this year, sales of new cars, trucks, and SUVs in the 10-county Houston metro region are up for the third consecutive month, according to a Greater Houston Partnership Economic Indicators email update. Sales figures came from the latest TexAuto Facts Report, published by InfoNation, Inc. of Sugar Land.

May 2009 sales were still 29 percent lower than in May 2008, but GHP says that this monthly total represents the smallest year-to-year decrease since last November.

From April 2009 to May 2009, retail vehicle sales - which TexAuto Facts defines as mostly local dealer sales - were up 5.4 percent.

Despite the recent rise in gasoline prices, GHP reports that the majority of new vehicle sales in Houston were trucks and SUVs.

Nationally, car sales are down about 42 percent from what they were ten years ago, according to a recent Reuters blog.

See GHP’s full list of Houston Economic Indicators for June 12, 2009.