
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 20, 1993                   TAG: 9304200385
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

NEW CAR SALES

Automakers are turning an economic corner, industry analysts say, and dealers in the Roanoke Valley appear to be benefiting from the accelerating sales.

Area dealers registered 624 new cars and trucks in March, according to statistics released last week by the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association. That's a 73 percent increase from February's sales of 360 vehicles and a 39 percent gain over 450 in March 1992.

Of last month's sales, 77 percent were domestic cars and trucks, with the remaining 23 percent imports. That reflects the national trend, where the Big Three U.S. automakers - Chrysler, Ford and General Motors - accounted for 74.6 percent of the cars, minivans and light trucks sold in the United States, up from the low point of 70.4 percent market share in 1991. Nationally, each percentage point represents 130,000 vehicles.

The dollar's weakness against the Japanese yen is helping U.S. makers. In the past 12 months, the yen is worth about 15 percent more, making Japanese products more expensive to Americans. - Staff report

by CNB