O.C. Auto Importers’ Sales of 3.4 Million in ’94 Neared Record

Bolstered in part by aggressive marketing and financial incentives, as well as fresh new styling for some key models, Southern California’s nine Japanese and Korean auto importers posted near-record U.S. sales of more than 3.4 million cars and trucks in 1994.

That was a 9.7% increase from 3.1 million sales in 1993.

The major Japanese companies--Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., American Honda Motor Co. and Nissan North America Inc.--reported 2.65 million vehicles sold, with Torrance-based Toyota posting a record year at 1.088 million sales, up 5% for the year, according to tallies released Wednesday.

The year was also a record for two Orange County-based car companies. Mazda Motor of America Inc. in Irvine posted a 9% increase to 375,416 cars and trucks, while Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America Inc. in Cypress saw sales jump 22% to 230,279 units.

Final industry figures will be available today, when Ford and General Motors release their tallies. Auto analysts said results from Chrysler Corp. and most Japanese car makers indicate that the industry had its best sales in six years.

“It’s the best total light vehicle sales year since 1988, when they sold 15.4 million vehicles,” said Michael Luckey of Luckey Consulting Group in New Jersey. He estimated that, when all the figures are added up, the industry total could reach 15.1 million vehicles, up from 13.9 million in 1993.

Necessity drove many people to auto dealers’ showrooms last year as the cars they had been hanging on to since the last economic boom in 1987 finally wore out, said industry consultant George Peterson, president of AutoPacific Group in Santa Ana.

But the car markers and their dealers grabbed even more business with an aggressive agenda of discount and long-term financing plans and easy leasing programs, he said.

Pickup trucks and sports utility vehicles were the stars of the year for companies that had them. “The demand is fantastic,” Peterson said. “It wasn’t passenger cars that made this a boom year.”

Toyota, for instance, reported a 53.5% increase in sales of its Four Runner and Land Cruiser sports utility vehicles, a total of 85,614 units. The company’s U.S. car sales in its Toyota and Lexus divisions, while accounting for far more vehicles, increased only 2.8% by comparison.

Mazda, which began selling Ford-made, Mazda-styled mini-pickups this year, posted nearly a 19% increase in truck sales, to 64,400 units. Sales of Mazda passenger cars rose 7%.

Among other Orange County auto importers, Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America said sales of its South Korean-made cars rose 15.9% to 126,095 vehicles--the company’s second year of increased sales after four years of decline.

Kia Motors America Inc., a South Korean newcomer based in Irvine, sold 12,144 of its Sephia sedans in a healthy showing for a new product with a limited dealership network. The company began sales in February and had fewer than 100 dealers at the end of the year.

Orange County’s fifth car company, American Suzuki Motor Corp. in Brea, reported a 30.5% increase to 33,672 sales, mainly of its Sidekick sports utility vehicle.

At American Honda in Torrance, sales of 788,230 cars and sports utility vehicles represented a 9.6% increase from 1993 and the company’s second-best year in the United States.

Nissan North American in Carson said sales rose 12.2% to 774,405 cars and trucks in the company’s best year since 1985.

Chrysler, the nation’s third-largest auto maker and the only one of the domestic companies to report sales Wednesday, said it sold 2.2 million cars and trucks in 1994, up 8%. Sales of pickup trucks, minivans and Jeeps led the way, rising 15% to offset a 3% decrease in Chrysler passenger car sales.