Bergen leads N.J. surge in auto sales

Ken Smith’s in Ridgewood now closed

Bergen leads N.J. surge in auto sales
Saturday July 6, 2013, 11:41 PM
BY  HUGH R. MORLEY AND ADAM OFFITZER
STAFF WRITERS
The Record

With Bergen County leading the way, new-vehicle registrations in New Jersey are soaring to heights not seen since the start of the recession, and both car-industry insiders and economic experts say it’s a clear sign of a big improvement in the overall economy.

Spurred by a pent-up desire to replace their aging cars and continued low interest rates, customers are flocking to new-car lots, boosting the hopes of dealers that they have finally put behind them the bad times that sent the industry into a recession-fueled downward spiral of bankruptcies, dealership closings and limp sales.

By the numbers

After slumping during the recession, auto sales by North Jersey dealers showing signs of reviving.

Year * Bergen Passaic
2012 80,172 28,010
2010 74,134 32,819
2008 69,891 20,825
2007 87,258 27,925

*Complete data not available for 2009 and 2011

Sources: R L Polk & Co., Dave Sheingold/staff analysis

New Jersey registered about 198,000 new cars and trucks in the first five months of this year, a pace that, if it continued through December, would total about 475,000 in 2013 — just short of the 498,000 registrations in pre-recession 2006.

Sales in Bergen are up 14.6 percent in the first two months of 2013 over the same period in 2012, the biggest increase in the state.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/Bergen_leads_NJ_surge_in_auto_sales.html