LOCAL ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT | AUTO DEALERS

Area new-car sales strong all over

By TERRY BOX
Staff Writer tbox@dallasnews.com

TOM SETZER
Staff Artist tsetzer@dallasnews.com

Car dealerships generally follow new rooftops, a trend that can spur dealers to leave old cities for growing suburbs. But in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, a fairly functional network of expressways and highways allows new-car customers in one corner of the area to shop dealerships in another corner with relative ease.

Driving toward recovery

Here are sales in the four area counties from 2009 when business hit bottom through 2011. Sales include retail and fleet: Sales and growth over previous year

Dallas County
2009 2010 2011 91,170 104,621 14.7% 116,467 11.3%

Tarrant County
2009 2010 1.6% 2011 87,927 89,368 102,948 15.2%

Collin County
2009 2010 2011 34,092 39,939 17.1% 45,123 12.9%

Denton County
2009 2010 2.9% 2011 18,697 19,240 21,966 14.1%

Four-county area
2009 2010 8.4% 2011 286,504 13.1% 231,886 253,168

SOURCE: The Freeman Metroplex Recap of new-vehicle sales

2007 vs. 2011

Area new-car and truck sales peaked in 2007 and plummeted in the next two years as the recession deepened. Here is a comparison of the sales in each of the counties in 2007 with those last year, and the degree to which they have recovered that is, sales in 2011 as a percentage of those in 2007 :

78.5%
Dallas County
2007: 148,311 2011: 116,467

82.3%
Tarrant County
2007: 150,860 2011: 102,948

68.2%

73.3%
Denton County
2007: 29,957 2011: 21,966

74.6%
Four-county area
2007: 383,939 2011: 286,504

Collin County
2007: 54,811 2011: 45,123

SOURCES: Freeman Metroplex Recap; Dallas Morning News research

Division of sales
Though change has reshaped the auto industry in the last three years, local dealership sales remained fairly consistent. While sales are lower now, each countys share of the total has remained about the same:

2009
DENTON CO. COLLIN CO.

2010
Denton 18,697 8% Collin 39,939 15.7% Tarrant 89,368 35.3% Denton 19,240 7.6% Dallas 104,621 41.3% Collin 45,123 15.7% Tarrant 102,948 35.9%

2011
Denton 21,966 7.6% Dallas 116,467 40.6%

Collin 34,092 14.7%

TARRANT CO. DALLAS CO.

Tarrant 87,927 37.9%

Dallas 91,170 (in sales) 39.3% (of four-county total)

SOURCES: Freeman Metroplex Recap; Dallas Morning News research

NOTE: Percentages may not total 100 because of rounding.

Top five dealers by county

These are the top five dealerships in each county and their sales, compared with the top five in 2007:
DALLAS COUNTY 2007 2011 1. Friendly Chevrolet, 8,714 1. Friendly Chevrolet, 3,273 2. Sewell Lexus, 4,805 2. Sewell Lexus, 3,153 3. Lute Riley Honda, 4,412 3. Trophy Nissan, 3,139 4. David McDavid Honda, 4,035 4. Park Place, Dallas, 2,989 5. Trophy Nissan, 3,841 5. North Central Ford, 2,463 Average sales top five: 5,161 3,003 TARRANT COUNTY 2007 2011 1. Classic Chevrolet, 6,559 1. Classic Chevrolet, 5,845 2. Five Star Ford, 4,431 2. Five Star Ford, 4,386 3. Freeman Toyota, 4,153 3. Don Davis Nissan, 3,092 4. Vandergriff Toyota, 3,959 4. Autobahn, 2,892 5. Toyota of Fort Worth, 3,927 5. Grapevine Ford, 2,587 Average sales top five: 4,605 3,760
SOURCES: The Freeman Auto Report; Dallas Morning News research

COLLIN 2007 1. Park Place Lexus, 3,810 2. Toyota of Plano, 3,797 3. David McDavid Honda, 3,296 4. Pat Lobb Toyota, 3,295 5. El Dorado Motors, 3,060 Average sales top five: 3,452

COUNTY 2011 1. David McDavid Honda, 3,935 2. Pat Lobb Toyota, 2,715 3. Park Place Lexus, 2,514 4. Crest Cadillac, 2,062 5. Huffines Hyundai, 2,052 2,656

DENTON COUNTY 2007 2011 1. James Wood Denton, 3,555 1. James Wood Denton, 2,481 2. Bankston Honda, 2,857 2. Classic ChryslerDodge-Jeep-Mazda, 1,549 3. Toyota of Lewisville, 2,707 3. Bankston Honda, 1,543 4. North Texas Nissan, 2,295 4. Bankston Nissan, 1,524 5. Central Kia, 1,778 5. Toyota of Lewisville, 1,405 Average sales top five: 2,638 1,700

The bottom line

What these numbers tell me is that no matter where you live in the area, people can get on an expressway or a toll road and shop all over for cars. It is usually true that the dealers go where the population is growing. But one anomaly is Lemmon Avenue, where you still have people shopping every day. Lee Chapman, president of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan New Car Dealers Association Certainly, you want a growing, relevant marketplace if you are a dealer. The other issue is income demographics. So while the suburbs are growing, my guess is there are some established neighborhoods in Dallas that were desirable 50 years ago and still are today. Paul Taylor, chief economist of the National Automobile Dealers Association If you look at growth among the counties last year, all had double-digit increases in sales and all rose between 11 and 15 percent. For now, that suggests that the area doesnt have a big division between dealers in the larger, old counties and those in smaller, faster-growing counties. Terry Box, staff writer, The Dallas Morning News