Cars tileBob Crates of Chattanooga said Monday his wife recently bought a new BMW sport utility vehicle, adding that the time had come to trade.
"Her car was 10 years old," he said.
Buyers like Crates helped boost Hamilton County sales by 2.4 percent in July, with new vehicles registered rising to 1,190 in the month, according to the County Clerk's Office.
Countrywide, July new-vehicle sales rose 5 percent to more than 1.5 million, Autodata Corp. reported, as the industry may be on track for its best year in a decade-and-a-half.
"The average age of vehicles on the road is also at a record 11.5 years, confirming plenty of pent-up demand remains," said Karl Brauer, senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book, in a statement.
He noted that nearly every automaker beat estimates in July, with truck and SUV sales driving much of the volume and profit across the industry. That included Volkswagen of America, though its hot-selling Golf family of compact cars aided a 2.4 percent increase in sales in July over a year ago.
VW sold 31,300 vehicles last month, reporting a 13.5 percent gain in its Tiguan compact SUV and a 16.4 percent increase in its larger Touareg SUV.
The all-new Golf family reported that sales were up 174.6 percent, according to the automaker.
"We are encouraged by the consistent sales growth for the Golf across all models within the family," said Mark McNabb, chief operating officer for Volkswagen of America.
However, sales of the Chattanooga-made Passat plunged 20.4 percent in July to 6,904 units as many buyers flock to SUVs and pickup trucks and away from sedans.
VW is spending $900 million on an expansion at its Chattanooga plant to assemble a new midsize SUV starting late next year.
For the year, VW sales are down 1.89 percent to 205,742 vehicles, the company reported.
Not all those who spoke in Chattanooga on Monday are in a buying mood.
Bill Snow of Chattanooga said he doesn't see a new car in his future.
"I'm pretty well satisfied with what I've got," he said.
Renee Mabe, also of Chattanooga, said she just paid off her vehicle.
"A car payment is not the best thing right now," she said.
For the year, the number of new vehicles titled in Hamilton County is up 1.5 percent this year to 7,589.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.