Auto dealers revved up

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Lowell Police Chief John Shelhart gets in the driver's seat of a four-wheel drive Chevy Tahoe after signing purchase paperwork at Mike Anderson Chevrolet in Merrillville, Ind. Friday January 20, 2012. U.S. automakers saw big gains in 2011. Shelhart picked up the second of two recent vehicle purchases for the Lowell Police Department. The department's entire fleet has switched to GM vehicles over the last five years. | Stephanie Dowell~Sun-Times Media

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Updated: February 25, 2012 8:05AM

Local auto dealers say the Northwest Indiana consumer was in the mood to buy in 2011 as sales continue trending higher year-after-year.

Chevrolet had a record year in 2011 selling 4.76 million cars worldwide and local sales increases helped fuel that growth.

Al Kuchar, general manager at Mike Anderson Chevrolet of Merrillville, said the dealership experienced an 18.6 percent increase in sales in 2011 over 2010.

He attributed Chevrolet’s success, and that of General Motors Co., which Thursday captured the No. 1 spot as top auto-seller worldwide for the first time since 2008 with sales of 9.03 million units, to a selection of vehicles that were built right and priced right.

“Chevy is wooing the first-time buyers with the Cruze, Sonic and Spark, all focused on the newest technology and fuel economy,” Kuchar said.

Locally the market for new cars is growing as the current fleet of vehicles on the road ages. Consumers also are looking for more fuel efficient vehicles. Kuchar said he expects to see the trend, and the increase in sales, continue in 2012.

Bob Kerr, owner of Lakeshore Toyota Scion and Lakeshore Ford in Burns Harbor, agreed consumers were ready to spend in 2011.

“Sales are definitely up,” said Kerr.

That buying mood presented a challenge for Toyota dealers who suffered from supply shortages after the March tsunami and earthquake devastated production facilities in Japan. Kerr said the damage at the plants cut supply almost in half and was a significant problem for Toyota dealers

The problem also helped knock Japan’s Toyota out of the top sales spot, dropping it to fourth in sales at 7.9 million globally behind Germany’s Volkswagen AG with 8.16 million in sales and the French-Japanese alliance of Renault and Nissan with 8.03 million vehicles sold.

“It was devastating, quite frankly, nationwide,” Kerr said. Inventories were down and Toyota’s new car sales slipped nationally. The dip in inventory meant some shoppers ready to buy went to other manufacturers such as GM and Ford.

“I think that kind of opened the door for people to look at other manufacturers,” Kerr said.

As a Ford dealer, the influx of new customers was a plus. He expects to see many people who could not get the Toyota they wanted to come back to the brand and for the automaker to regain the top sales position. Toyota is projecting record sales in 2012.

“We’ve already seen some coming back,” he said.

Kuchar expects to see General Motors and Chevrolet remain strong.

“The American car-buying public demands great products at competitive prices and a remarkable car-buying and ownership experience. The company that delivers that will win now and in the future,” Kuchar said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.