Registrations of new autos in Orange County plunged 18.7 percent through June compared to the first six of 2007, the Orange County Automobile Dealers Association says, describing the current sales climate as a “near perfect storm” of tight credit, deepening consumer debt, soaring gas prices and fear of rising unemployment.

The auto dealers association forecast a 13.9 percent drop for all of 2008, a 1.8 percent increase in 2009 and a sustained rebound in 2010.

U.S. made trucks and SUVs led the decline in sales. The few bright spots were among fuel efficient vehicles. Hybrids accounted for 4.9 percent of new vehicles through June compared to 2.1 percent of new vehicles sold in the first half of 2005.

But even sales of Toyota Priuses are off. O.C. car buyers bought 2,080 Prius hybrids in the first half of this year compared to 2,113 in the first half of 2007.

Volkswagen and Mazda were the only brands reporting sales increases in the first half of the year in Orange County.

Orange County’s sales drop compares to a statewide decline of 14.4 percent and a national decline of 9.9 percent during the first six months of the year.

To see the full report on Orange County, CLICK HERE. To see the report on California’s first six months of 2008, CLICK HERE.

Related stories …

• Ford, Daimler, Hyundai profits fall; Renault up
• California a national leader in layoffs
• O.C. home prices rise for 1st time in 7 months in June
• O.C. jobless rate hits five-year high

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 24th, 2008 at 3:55 pm and is filed under Autos, Economy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.