80% of Colo. sales are trucks, SUVs; Ram gain biggest
Light-duty pickups, SUVs and crossovers exceeded 80 percent of newvehicle registrations in Colorado during the past year. It supports the claim that Colorado registers the highest percentage of sales of all-wheel drive and four-wheel drive vehicles in the country. Of 201,713 registrations of new vehicles in the state last year, 162,311 or 80.5 percent were trucks/SUVs/crossovers, while only 39,402 or 19.5 percent were cars, according to figures from the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association (CADA). The total was a 2.8 percent decline from the total of 207,602 in 2018. Colorado’s six top-selling brands showed declines for 2019. Ram, the 7th-best seller in the state, showed a strong gain of 2,119 in sales, from 8,330 sales in 2018 to 10,449 last year. Ram also recorded the biggest gain in sales all across the U.S. last year. Behind Ram in sales gains in Colorado for the year were Tesla 872, BMW 565, GMC 352, Hyundai 313 and Lincoln 218. Largest declines were Nissan 1,673; Jeep 1,668; Toyota 1,325; Chevrolet 1,120; Honda 779, Subaru 537, Dodge 494, Ford 484 and Infiniti 355.
“Light truck demand and luxury brands stayed positive last year in Colorado, while compact cars and large cars showed the biggest declines,” said CADA president Tim Jackson. “Electric and hybrid vehicles continued tostagnateat3to4percentof market share. On the upside, most Colorado consumers continued to purchase SUVs, crossovers and pickups and will continue to enjoy manufacturers’ incentives and low interest rates.” Following are sales by brands in Colorado for 2019:
Toyota 30,188; Subaru 23,406; Ford 21,269; Honda 15,419; Chevrolet 13,799; Jeep 13,719; Ram 10,449; Nissan 8,413; Hyundai 7,762; GMC 6,613; Volkswagen 5,988; Kia 4,722; Mazda 4,488; Tesla 4,406; BMW 4,125; Lexus 3,855; Audi 3,840; Mercedes 3,702; Dodge 2,463; Acura 1,858; Volvo 1,749; Buick 1,574; Land Rover 1,182; Lincoln 1,150; Cadillac 1,024; Porsche 885; Infiniti 870; Mitsubishi 665; Mini 649; Chrysler 497; Jaguar 377; Alfa Romeo 213; Genesis 84; Fiat 82; Maserati 80. Reader response Hi Bud: I really enjoy the throwback articles of what you reviewed back in 1980 (Pintos, Chevettes,etc.),butIhavea suggestion for improvement. You should also supply a throwback headshot photo of yourself from the time period to accompany the article, make it “more authentic.” – Scott S. A photo from 40 years ago? That would mean I’d be dark-haired again. I think you may be on to something, Scott. We’ll see. Hi Bud: Regarding your recent “Back then” repeat of a 1980 column reviewing AMC Spirit, Chevrolet Chevette, Dodge Omni and Ford Pinto, I couldn’t tell for sure which you favored. – Dan M.
The Dodge Omni was the only modern, front-wheel-drive platform, Dan, and surpassed the others, which were years-old, rear-wheel-drive models, soon to be replaced by better-handling, more-efficient front-drivers.