Accord Leads Pack in O.C. as Favorite ’89 Car
Orange County car buyers went along with the rest of the nation in 1989 in making the Honda Accord the most popular new car of the year, according to a study of new car registrations.
Ford’s Taurus, the nation’s second-most popular car model last year, finished fifth in Orange County--well behind the combined sales of the four leading models, all Japanese imports.
But Ford’s complete line boosted the car maker into first place as the most popular nameplate in the county.
And among the 15 leading brands of cars sold in the county last year, only Ford Motor Co.’s Ford and Lincoln-Mercury divisions, General Motors’ Cadillac division and Japan’s Nissan Motor Co. posted registration increases.
The registration data, compiled by R.L. Polk & Co. of Detroit for the Orange County Motor Car Dealers Assn., covered new automobiles registered in the county from January through November, 1989.
No Chrysler Corp. products are among the top 15 passenger car nameplates, and the only European cars to make the list were Mercedes-Benz, in 11th place, and BMW, in 15th place. Both had declining local registrations.
Among the Asian car makers, Toyota and Honda remained flat, while Mazda, Acura and Hyundai registrations dropped, the study shows.
The 53,490 import car registrations among the county’s top 15 car makes were off 4.25% from the first 11 months of 1988.
And imports captured just 48% of county sales last year, down from 59% in 1988.
But industry analysts said the sharp decline doesn’t signal a turning point in county car buyers’ longstanding love affair with imports.
“You can’t say that imports really are doing worse because sales were down everywhere, for everybody,” said George Peterson, president of Auto Pacific Group in Santa Ana and a specialist in automotive brand marketing.
Peterson said “1989 was a year in which any maker that held its own was doing a fantastic job and any growth was just that much better.”
Ford’s performance, locally and nationally, cemented its position as the top domestic car maker, he said.
Ford passenger car registrations were up 5% in Orange County, according to the Polk study. And while Ford passenger car sales were down nearly 6% nationally in 1989, according to Automotive News, an industry trade journal, Chevrolet sales were off nearly 9%.
In Orange County, Ford toppled Toyota to take first place overall in passenger car registrations, with a total of 15,671 in the first 11 months.
Toyota finished second with 13,760 registrations and Honda was third at 12,222 registrations.
Rounding out the top five passenger car nameplates were Nissan, with 9,136 registrations, and Chevrolet, 7,679 registrations.
Hyundai, the South Korean auto importer, fell farthest in the county rankings after three years of phenomenal growth.
Despite the introduction in 1989 of the mid-size Sonata to augment the subcompact Excel introduced in 1986, Hyundai dropped from sixth place to ninth with 3,837 registrations, down 32% from 1988.
The Hyundai Excel, the third most popular model in the county in 1988, dropped to ninth place on that list last year, down 49% from 1988, when it was Hyundai’s only model.
Hyundai sales plunged in part because of quality control problems and because it lost its place as the low-price leader among import models. But the company also lost some of the momentum it built during the past two years by failing to introduce new models and to redesign the Excel in time to keep consumers from becoming bored with its offerings.
To try to reignite consumer interest, Hyundai is about to introduce a two-door sports coupe, the Scoupe, and next year will add a fourth model to its line, a car that will be positioned “between the Excel and the Sonata,” a spokeswoman said.
The Honda Accord, the popular Japanese import that last year became the first foreign car to top the national best-selling list--retained number-one standing in Orange County for the second consecutive year.
Toyota’s Corolla line, including the Tercel, was the second most popular car model in the county, followed by the Toyota Camry and the Acura--Honda’s luxury car.
The Ford Taurus--the second most popular car model in the United States last year--was fifth in registrations in Orange County.
Ford--the namesake division of Ford Motor Co.--was the only domestic auto brand in the top 10 of individual model registrations in the county last year. In addition to the Taurus, Ford’s Escort placed eighth and the Thunderbird placed 10th.
The Lincoln-Mercury division of Ford Motor was the sixth most popular line overall.
Domestic makers also did well in truck sales in Orange County. Ford was the most popular with 14,270 registrations, up 7%, followed by Chevrolet, up 17% at 11,124, and Chrysler Corp., flat at 11,100.
Toyota was fourth with 9,395 registrations, down 1%; Mazda was sixth with 2,436, up 33% on the strength of its popular mini-van, and Nissan finished sixth with 2,426 registrations, a drop of 9%.
In individual models, Toyota pickups ranked first with 7,531, a 7% decline from 1988. The Plymouth Voyager/Dodge Caravan mini-van was second most popular with 4,314 registrations, down 3%. Chevrolet’s C-series trucks finished third with a 28% registration increase to 4,270 units, followed by Jeep, up 14% at 3,879, and the Ford Aerostar, up 32% at 3,596 registrations.
TOP CAR BRANDS IN O.C.
Here are the top 15 automotive brands ranked by number of registrations, January to November, 1989.
1989 1988 Pct. Company Sales Sales Change Ford 15,671 13,048 +5 Toyota 13,760 13,679 -- Honda 12,222 12,216 -- Nissan 9,136 8,603 +6 Chevrolet 7,679 8,109 -5 Lincoln-Mercury 5,064 4,644 +9 Mazda 4,367 5,167 -15 Acura 4,258 4,309 -1 Hyundai 3,837 5,636 -32 Cadillac 3,620 3,228 +12 Mercedes-Benz 3,531 3,768 -6 Oldsmobile 3,372 3,693 -8 Pontiac 3,128 3,513 -10 Buick 2,916 2,840 +3 BMW 2,352 2,489 -5
Source: R. L. Polk
TOP-SELLING MODELS IN ORANGE COUNTY
Here are the top 10 car models ranked by number of registrations, January to November, 1989.
1989 1988 Pct. Company Sales Sales Change Honda Accord 7,106 6,559 +11 Toyota Corolla/Tercel 5,538 5,954 -7 Toyota Camry 5,479 4,688 +17 Acura 4,258 4,202 +1 Ford Taurus 4,082 3,807 +7 Nissan Sentra 3,697 4,516 -18 Honda Civic 3,257 4,306 -24 Ford Escort 2,921 2,736 +6 Hyundai Excel 2,836 5,636 -49 Ford Thunderbird 2,566 1,623 +58
Source: R. L. Polk
