WARREN - Area new car sales continued to slip last month, with dealers in the tri-county area reporting 108 fewer new cars sold in August 2012 than in August 2011.
The Automobile Dealers Association of Eastern Ohio reported Monday that 2,333 new cars sold in August in Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties. A total of 2,422 new cars sold in August 2011.
Greenwood Chevrolet remained as the leading new-car seller in the area, selling 127 last month. Still, that was 49 fewer vehicles than the previous August.
Four of the top-selling five dealers dropped from the previous year. Taylor Kia ranked second, with 119 new cars sold this year, six less than August 2012; Sweeney Chevrolet ranked third, with 118 new cars sold, 17 less than last August; Bob & Chuck Eddy Chrysler Dodge Jeep sold 107, 24 less than last August; and Spitzer Autoworld of Lordstown ranked fifth with 102 new cars sold. That dealership sold 79 new cars in August 2011.
Greenwood also led the area in combined new and used car sales, with 255 last month. That number also was down from the previous August, when 280 new and used cars were sold there.
Taylor Kia ranked second with 204; and Sweeney Buick GMC sold 201 last month.
Chevrolet remained the top-selling local make, but also saw a decline of 137 units, from 765 last year to 628 this August. Ford ranked second with 281, but also slipped 47 units.
Honda was the top-selling import, ranking third among all makes. Sales rose from 95 in August 2011 to 159 last month.
The Chevy Equinox topped the Malibu as the area's best seller, knocking Malibu out of the top-selling model slot for the first time since January. Reports showed 109 Equinox vehicles were sold last month, up significantly from August 2011, when just 80 were sold. In second was the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 with 108. Malibu slipped to a third-place tie at 101 with the Chevy Cruze.
Cruze sales also slipped locally at 99 less than the 200 sold in August 2011.