Colorado vehicle sales decline 12.5% in 2020

Colorado car and truck sales declined by 12.5% during 2020, according to the year-end report from the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association.

The association said that truck sales declined 7.1% and car registrations were down 32.4%. In 2020 through December, 220,921 new vehicles were sold, compared with 252,369 in 2019.

“Last year was both challenging and unprecedented for the auto industry and consumers, due to our national pandemic and economic shutdowns,” Tim Jackson, CADA president, said in a written statement about the year-end sales results. “We’re continuing to see a slow recovery for new vehicle registrations in Colorado, as evidenced by the slim 0.4% decline in registrations during November and December combined. On a bright note, new light trucks and SUVs continue to perform well.”

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Jackson said demand is being driven by steady gas prices and low interest rates.

Highlights from the annual report include:

• New vehicle registrations in Colorado decreased a slim 0.4% during the last two months (November and December combined), versus the same period a year earlier.

• Lincoln, Ram, Kia and Volvo registrations increased through December 2020. Lincoln increased 4.5%, Ram increased 2.7%, Kia increased 2.6%, and Volvo increased 0.9%.

• In the alternative-powertrain market, hybrid registrations increased 4% through December 2020 versus 2019, as did electric registrations, which were up 2.8% through December 2020. Plug-in hybrid registrations declined 0.8% over the same period.

• Colorado’s top five market share leaders are Toyota, Ford, Subaru, Chevrolet and Jeep. 

• Korean brand registrations were down 2%, Japanese brands were down 15.9%, European brands were down 12.3% and domestic brands were down 10.6%.

• The used vehicle market was down 15.6% through December 2020.

• The U.S. retail new vehicle market was off an estimated 12.5% through December 2020.

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