Colorado auto registrations were on track to end 2018 lower than they were in 2017, but a surge in the final months pushed them across the finish line by a nose, according to a report Friday from Colorado Automobile Dealers Association.
Colorado buyers registered 211,653 new light cars and trucks last year, just a tad above the 211,132 registered in 2017. That 0.2-percent gain may not be anything to get excited about, but it is much better than the 0.9-percent drop recorded nationally, and it came mostly late in the year.
“New car and truck customers may be buying now, ahead of higher-cost vehicles,” said Tim Jackson, association president, in a news release.
Jackson has warned that the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission’s decision to adopt California vehicle emission standards, which the auto dealers oppose, will boost new car prices in the state by as much as $2,000 to $3,000 per vehicle on average.
Whether that actually motivated buyers more than the new models hitting showrooms and dealer incentives can be tough to parse. But the counts show that Colorado consumers are rapidly abandoning sedans, where the most electric vehicle options are available.
Car sales on the year in the state were down 14.9 percent to 50,553 in 2018 from 2017. Light truck sales, which includes SUVs, rose 6.2 percent to 161,100. They are now more three-fold higher than sedan sales, an unprecedented ratio.
In a sign that consumers do have an appetite for electric cars, Tesla recorded the biggest increase in sales last year at 219.4 percent. Volvo, up 46.4 percent; Land Rover, up 27.1 percent; BMW, up 9.3 percent and Ram, up 8.3 percent, were the other leaders in terms of increased sales last year.
The brands that lost the most favor with Colorado consumers were Jaguar, down 32.5 percent; Chrysler, down 26.2 percent; Fiat, down 20.7 percent; Maserati, down 19.4 percent and Nissan, down 18.2 percent.
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410, asvaldi@denverpost.com or @aldosvaldi
