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Buyers embrace ‘foreign’ vehicles

Consumers seem to understand that American cars may be made overseas and vice versa.

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By Thomas Gnau, Staff Writer 12:43 AM Sunday, May 16, 2010

Jim Evans bought his Poe Avenue auto dealerships from Pete Zorniger in July 2007.

Only recently has he gotten around to putting his name up in building signage. The owner of BMW of Dayton, Volvo of Dayton and Evans Volkswagen said he wanted the focus to be on his cars, not him.

By that measure, perhaps, Evans appears to be doing well. He said his certified pre-owned BMW business is up 39 percent compared to last year. His new car sales are up 17 percent so far this year and his total used vehicle sales are up 36 percent, he said.

Evans also believes the American consumer has embraced foreign or “international” vehicles.

In March, for example, General Motors and Toyota Motor Sales USA were evenly matched at 17.6 percent and 17.5 percent of market share, respectively, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Imports (from all auto manufacturers, including those based in the United States) made up 35.6 percent of market share in March, above the 15.5 percent for domestic market share, according to The Journal.

“The auto industry is an international business at this point,” Evans said.

Cody Lusk, president of the American International Automobile Dealers Association, believes U.S. consumers simply want vehicles that meet their needs at a price they can afford.

“The international nameplates have been providing that pretty consistently,” Lusk said.

U.S. government intervention in the domestic market is also being felt, some say.

“Since the (U.S.) government owns a good portion of two of the U.S. nameplates, I will probably buy a Ford or Honda for my next vehicle,” said Tom Vogel of Harrison Twp. who drives a Chevrolet Cavalier and a Ford F-150.

“When the government is involved, things can get a little askew,” Lusk said.

Issues of perceived quality also matter, said Paul Taylor, chief economist for the McLean, Va.-based National Automobile Dealers Association.

“The most difficult thing to do is convince people you’re on the straight and narrow when you’ve had several decades of quality complaints,” Taylor said.

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