Austin-area auto sales throttle back in June
Sales are down 2.2% from the same month last year
![After a strong May, Austin-area new car sales slowed in June, according to a new industry report. Auto sales are considered a key indicator of an area’s consumer confidence, as purchases of big-ticket items tend to indicate consumers aren’t worried about their jobs or the state of the economy. [AMERICAN-STATESMAN]](/gcdn/authoring/2019/07/15/NAAS/ghows-TX-8dbabc0d-3430-48e5-e053-0100007f840c-3c68b348.jpeg?width=660&height=430&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
In June, Austin-area new car sales remained behind last year’s record sales pace, according to a new industry report.
Dealers in the Austin metro area sold 10,668 new vehicles in June, according to Freeman Auto Report, a Dallas-based company that tracks auto sales in Williamson, Travis, Hays, Bastrop, Blanco, Burnet and Caldwell counties. That's down 2.2% from the same month last year, when area dealers sold 10,912 new vehicles.
For the year to date, Austin-area auto sales also remain behind 2018's sales pace. Through the first six months this year, 59,113 new vehicles have been purchased, according to Freeman Auto Report, down 4.4% from the same period in 2018, when 61,863 new vehicles were sold.
June's local sales slip also marked a significant drop from May, when local dealers sold a whopping 12,118 new vehicles as major automakers rolled out a number of deep discounts.
Auto sales are considered a key indicator of an area’s consumer confidence, as purchases of big-ticket items tend to indicate consumers aren’t worried about their jobs or the state of the economy.
Nationally through June, total U.S. auto sales were down 2.4% from 2018, according to Automotive News. That has national sales on pace to finish at slightly more than 16.9 million autos, which would be the first time since 2014 sales failed to top 17 million.
The year started slowly for local dealers, with sales falling 28.7% in January, compared with a year earlier.
The market picked up in February, with an 8.9% increase over February 2018. March remained strong, with a 9.3% jump in sales. But buyers tapped the brakes in April, resulting in a 10.5% decline from the same period a year ago.
The best-selling brand in the Austin metro area in June was Ford, which sold 755 trucks and 747 cars for total sales of 1,502 vehicles, according to Freeman Auto Report. That was followed by Chevrolet with 1,428 total sales, Toyota with 1,244, Nissan total with 953 and Honda with 851, according to Freeman Auto Report data.