Monte Burney of Economy Honda in Chattanooga says auto sales are pointing in the right direction.
“For the rest of the year, we need to keep doing what we’re doing right now,” the sales manager said.
SEPTEMBER MARKSNew vehicles titled in Hamilton County:* 2010 – 917* 2009 – 719* 2008 – 1,157* 2007 – 1,602* 2006 – 1,331* 2005 – 1,638Source: Hamilton County Clerk’s Office
New cars and trucks titled in Hamilton County raced ahead 27.5 percent last month compared to September 2009, according to the county Clerk’s Office.
For the year so far, new vehicles titled in the county are 18.9 percent above 2009, figures show.
“I don’t think we’ll miss a beat in October,” Burney added.
September titling of vehicles, which closely relates to overall sales, hit the best monthly mark so far in 2010, the Clerk’s Office shows.
Ron Kwiatkowski, new vehicle sales manager at Village Volkswagen, said last month was average, but he said sales will tick higher in October.
“The new model year is coming in,” he said.
While September new vehicle registrations soared over a year ago, they’re still way off from pre-recession levels, figures indicate.
For example, registrations for the month hit 1,638 in 2005, according to the Clerk’s Office.
Offering the right pricing of cars and trucks will keep customers coming in for the remainder of 2010, Burney said.
“We’ve got a lot of competition out there,” he said. “We have to look at our prices and make sure we’re pricing them to the market.”
Burney said he expects Internet-related sales to stay busy as well.