Sales slump?

I heard a headline in early June that car sales have fallen this year. That doesn’t make sense to me because the economy is pretty strong and with all the other indicators being pretty strong, I would not expect people to withhold purchasing things, even high-ticket items. Was that an erroneous report, and if not, what’s up?

It’s fairly simple.

Analysts that watch these things say the auto industry experienced everincreasing sales every year from 2010 to 2016, a rare streak of perpetual improvement. So any pent-up desire for a new car that existed in the years before then (and there was considerable due to the recession and general consumer concern about which direction the economy would go) was pretty much filled during those years.

Also, we’re keeping cars longer — the average age of vehicles on our roads is about 11.5 years, experts say.

Still, that doesn’t mean no one is buying cars. Various forecasters are predicting this year’s sales will be 17.2 to 17.4 million, down slightly from last year’s 17.5 million.

I read that the 9-speed automatic transmission Chevy Cruz diesel gets an extraordinary 47 miles per gallon on the highway. But there was no explanation of why the big boost in mileage for a non-hybrid car.

There are a few things.

The biggest is that the automatic Cruze (there’s also a manual that gets even better mileage) has a 9-speed transmission, a new advancement from GM. The oversimplified explanation is more gears means the engine has more options for finding optimal efficiency. When the car doesn’t need to deliver massive power (as when you’re accelerating or passing, for example), it can back down into the gear where you get the power needed, but no more than that, and that saves fuel.

The Cruze also has automatic stopstart (for traffic lights), as well as a design and some weight-lightening materials that decrease the heft of the car. All of these combined contribute to the excellent mpg numbers.

Moreover, the fact it’s diesel is an mpg benefit (diesel fuel has more energy, and diesel engines are more efficient than gasoline).

GM used many means to gain incremental boosts, and it all adds up.

What’s your question? Sharon Peters would like to hear about what’s on your mind when it comes to caring for, driving and repairing your vehicle. Email Sharon@ ctwfeatures.com.