Car sales, prices in area up in October

New-car sales in October jumped by a third from last year, driven in part by an increase in fleet sales to corporations, car rental companies and government agencies.

Local dealers sold 33,518 new vehicles in October, up from 25,144 vehicles the same month last year, according to the TexAuto Facts report late last week by Sugar Land-based InfoNation.

Record fleet sales, which represented 17.7 percent of all vehicle sales in October, buoyed dealers. Fleet sales were 12.7 percent of total sales the previous month.

“Fleet sales market share saw a considerable increase, making October 2018 a record high,” InfoNation said in its report.

Auto manufacturers and dealers nationally are looking to increase fleet sales to corporations and government agencies as analysts forecast a downturn in retail car sales amid rising interest rates and the growing popularity of used cars. Nationally, new-vehicle sales have stagnated, rising just 0.4 percent in October compared to the prior year, according to InfoNation.

The Houston area, however, has managed to buck the national trend. Dealers sold 27,575 new vehicles to consumers in October, up 23.3 percent from last year. More than 220,000 new vehicles have been sold so far this year, up 8.8 percent from this time last year. The average retail price of a new vehicle sold locally in October was $38,373, up from $ 37,898 in September, according to InfoNation.

Trucks and SUVs continue to dominate new-vehicle sales, constituting nearly three-quarters of the local market. The average retail price for a truck or SUV sold here in October was $41,067, up from $39,598 in September. Local dealers sold 84,351 used cars in October, a 2 percent decline from the previous month.