3 O.C. Auto Importers Show Sales Gains

The numbers are in and they show that, while sales for Orange County’s five auto importers collectively were flat in the U.S. for 1997--following the national trend--three of the car companies posted increases.

Kia Motors America Inc. in Irvine led the pack with a hefty 53% increase--thanks in part to the young company’s continued expansion into states where it has never before sold cars. In all, Kia sold 55,325 cars and sport-utility vehicles for a 0.4% share of the U.S. auto market.

The county’s other South Korean car importer, Hyundai Motor America Inc. in Fountain Valley, sold 113,186 cars for a 4.7% increase--its first in several years--and a 0.7% share of the market. A pair of big fleet deals helped boost Hyundai’s total sales and contributed to a December sales gain of 70.1% that gave the company a hefty 1.4% market share for that month.

The third gainer was Mitsubishi Motor Sales of American Inc. in Cypress. The Japanese car importer sold 189,163 cars and light trucks, up 1.4% over 1996, for a 1.2% market share.

Irvine-based Mazda North American Operations, the largest of the car companies headquartered in the county, saw sales decline 6.6% for the year amid a top-to-bottom reorganization. The company, which plans to introduce new or revamped models every year for the next three years, sold 221,840 cars and trucks in 1997 for a 1.5% market share.

American Suzuki Motor Corp. sold 29,283 of its compact cars and sport-utility vehicles, a 20% decline from 1996. The Brea-based company, which AutoPacific Group analyst Eric Noble says was hurt by increased competition in the small SUV market it once dominated, posted a 0.2% market share for the year.

Collectively, the five companies sold 608,827 cars, or about 4% of total U.S. sales of 15.16 million vehicles last year.