Arkansas auto registrations were down almost 4 percent in November compared with a year earlier, according to Cross-Sell of Lexington, Ky., which provides analysis for the auto industry.
Owners registered 6,612 new vehicles in the state in November, down 3.9 percent from 6,878 registrations in November 2012.
Nationally, autos sold at a much better pace, according to Autodata Corp. It reported that new vehicle sales equaled an annual rate of 16.4 million cars and trucks through November, the best rate of the year.
Even with the latest November figures, 2013 was on pace to be the best year in Arkansas for registrations in the six years Cross-Sell has provided data on registrations in the state. There were 95,594 new vehicles registered in 2012. Through November, more than 92,000 new vehicles were titled in Arkansas - about 3,600 fewer than in all of 2012.
December registration figures won’t be available until late this month.
The boom in auto sales in Arkansas has a major effect on the state’s economy, said Kathy Deck, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
Auto sales have been leading retail sales both nationally and in Arkansas for the past several years, Deck said.
“Strong auto sales are generally indicative of optimism,” Deck said. “People feel like they have the ability to make these kind of major purchases. Strong auto sales are correlated with economic recovery.”
There were 958 new Fords registered in Arkansas in November, more than any other make. Ford pickups were the most popular model in the state in November with 492registered.
More than 24 percent of all new vehicles titled in November were full-sized pickups.
There were more than 9,700 used vehicles titled after sales in November with auto dealers, down 28 percent from November 2012. In addition, there were 17,500 used vehicles titled after private party transactions, down 19 percent from November 2012.
As 2014 begins, auto sales in Arkansas should continue to be good, said Dennis Jungmeyer, president of the Arkansas Automobile Dealers Association.
“Statistically, Arkansas is one of the states that has a percentage of potential buyers that may have had more credit issues [in past years] who now have the availability of financing,” Jungmeyer said. “That is allowing a lot of people to be in the market who a couple of years ago couldn’t.”
Because of the state’s constitution, Arkansas auto dealers had been limited to charging interest rates of 5 percent above the discount rate, which was about 5.5 percent in recent years. But in 2010, voters passed a constitutional amendment that allowed retailers in the state to charge interest rates up to 17 percent.
Unlike most states, the number of titles issued in Arkansas doesn’t match vehicle sales each month. Arkansas auto buyers are given up to 30 days to register vehicles after buying them, so most of the November registrations were for sales made in October.
The number of autos sold in Arkansas each month is not available from the state unless a substantial fee is paid to cover agency expenses, the state’s Office of Motor Vehicle said.
Business, Pages 25 on 01/01/2014