Last year’s new vehicle sales in state rise 10% over year prior

DENVER — Car dealers sold 10% more new vehicles in 2021 than they did in 2020, which exceeded the national 5.1% increase for the same time period.

The Colorado Automobile Dealership Association, which tracks sales of new and used vehicles, provided its year-end report this week. As has long been the case, sales of light trucks, SUVs, pickups and vans account for most vehicles sold — 85.5% of the total vehicle market in the state during the past year, the association reported. While the light truck market has dominated sales for many years, as recently as 2008 that share was 58%.

Sales of new vehicles were up, but the new car market share declined 1.7%, according to association data. New car sales made up 14.5% of the total Colorado vehicle market. Used car sales in 2021 increased 16.5% over used car sales in 2020. The data show that car owners were holding onto their vehicles longer with sales of cars three years old or newer actually falling 3.4% in 2021 from 2020 numbers. Most used car sales activity occurred in cars seven to 10 years old, which saw sales increase 31.4% year over year. 

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“Tight supplies and record-high prices will likely limit gains in used vehicle sales over the next 12 months,” the association wrote in its analysis.

Electric vehicle registrations increased in 2021 over 2020 by 81%, the report said. 

Among Colorado’s counties, data show that Weld ranked seventh with 7.7% of the state’s market share. Larimer was eighth at 6.0% market share, Boulder ninth at 4.5% and Broomfield 12th at 1.6%. El Paso County led the state with 12.5% market share and Denver ranked second at 10.7%. 

“Last year was a hilly ride for Colorado new vehicle registrations with ups and downs in the marketplace due to the on-going pandemic, supply chain issues in the auto industry, the chip shortage, and low inventory in our statewide dealerships,” CADA President Tim Jackson said in a written statement. “Meanwhile, consumers continued to purchase new vehicles and overall registrations ended up in double digit positive territory. Going forward we anticipate more uncertainty with the economy and yet more than 44,000 vehicle purchases have been postponed in Colorado between last year and going into this year, which will have a positive effect on registrations in 2022.” 

Other highlights in the report:

• Toyota held the lead in brand market share with 14.1% of the market, followed by Ford (10.6%), Subaru (9.3%), and Honda and Chevrolet tied at 7%.
• The Ford F-Series led in model market share at 4.6%, followed by Ram pickup (4.5%), Toyota RAV4 (3.1%), and Toyota Tacoma and Chevrolet Silverado tied at 2.7%.
• Genesis led Asian brands with the largest registration increase YTD at 217%, followed by Tesla in the domestic brand category at 77.9%. BMW led all European brands at 45.7%.