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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 8, 1993                   TAG: 9309080067
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

VIRGINIA CAR SALES GREAT, SURPRISINGLY

Virginians are buying new cars when they aren't buying much else, said an economist who admits the trend is puzzling.

"It's hard to fathom," said Roy Pearson, director of the Bureau of Business Research at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. While general retail sales continue to be lackluster and home sales have not revived fully from the recession, the state's car dealers are enjoying the best year since their previous sales peak in 1986, Pearson said Tuesday.

"The state is inching ahead at a painfully slow pace," he said. "The only galloping sector is new-car sales, which consistently exceeded last year's levels of over 20 percent."

In the first six months, statewide auto sales rose 23.8 percent over the corresponding period in 1992. In the Roanoke metro area, Pearson said auto sales are up 16.4 percent comparing the same time periods.

Combining May and June figures, generally among the best periods of any year for car sales, statewide sales are up 29 percent and Roanoke metro rose by 35.8 percent, Pearson said.

The only likely explanation, he said, is that Virginians are "hungry for new cars. The ones they bought in 1986 are wearing out."

by CNB