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Show Vehicle sales fall during '90 Utah new car and truck sales fell 1.7 percent during the first quarter of 1990, the State Tax Commission said today. The Tax Commission's Economic & Statistical Unit reported new car sales dipped 1.7 percent during the first quarter and new truck sales slipped 1.8 percent, reflecting the national trend of declining unit sales of new cars and trucks. The report, prepared by research economist Leslee Katayama, says the 8,580 new cars sold in Utah during dur-ing the first quarter represent the third quarter of declining sales. Nationally, new car sales did not fare much better, dropping 0.6 percent per-cent compared to the same period last year. The first-quarter sales of domestic dom-estic manufactured cars were flat. Chrysler Corp. car sales grew 9.8 percent, fueled by 16.-5 percent and 23.7 percent growth of Dodge and Plymouth models. However, the carmaker's Chrysler and AMCJeep Eagle makes experienced double-digit double-digit declines of 16.9 percent and 21.9 percent, respectively. General Motors managed an overall increase of 5.3 percent as a result of the 35.1 percent rise in Chevrolet sales. All other GM cars, however, experienced poor first-quarter first-quarter sales in Utah. Buick, Cadillac, Oidsmobile and Pontiac sales were down 8 percent, 11.7 percent, 20.5 percent and 23.6 percent, per-cent, respectively. Ford Motor Co. car sales declined declin-ed 14.3 percent. Its Ford and Mercury Mer-cury make sales decreased 13.8 percent and 32.7 percent, respectively. respec-tively. Lincoln sales, on the other hand, climbed 31 percent. Asian car sales were off 7.3 percent per-cent in the first quarter. They were led by double-digit declines in the sales of Subaru and Hyundai, which fell 50.4 percent and 39.6 percent, respectively. Honda and Toyota makes also fell 7.9 percent and 16.4 percent. Exceptions were Nissan and Acura, which experienced 39.4 percent and 13 percent respective rises over the same quarter last year. However, European car sales showed improvement, growing 21 .2 percent in the first quarter. Volkswagen sales were 71 percent above last year, and Audi and Mercedes Benz sales also were brisk, increasing 29.7 percent and 21.7 percent, respectively. Declines were reported by BMW (-9.3 percent), per-cent), Porsche (-7.1 percent) and Saab (-36.7 percent). The 5,559 new truck and motor home sales in Utah during the first quarter represent a 1.8 percent decline over sales a year ago. Despite cool domestic make sales, Ford Motor Co. truck sales gained 19.4 percent over the same period last year. General Motors and Chrysler, by contrast, experienced experi-enced 8.6 percent and 24.1 percent lower first-quarter sales. In the foreign truck market, Asian make sales increased 3.3 percent, per-cent, spurred by 20.8 percent and 61 percent respective increases in sales of Nissan and Mitsubishi trucks. Isuzu and Mazda sales also rose, with 3.1 percent and 6.9 percent respective increases. First-quarter sales of Suzuki and Toyota makes fell 68.6 percent and 4.1 percent. Heavy truck sales, which tend to fluctuate, dropped nearly 29 percent in the first quarter. White Freight, Mack and International Harvester sales were down 86.5 percent, 93.3 percent and 51.3 percent, respectively. respec-tively. First-quarter Peterbilt and Kenworth sales, however, rose 34 percent and 40.7 percent. Motor home sales were brisk in the fust quarter, increasing 58.6 percent. Winnebago and Fleetwood sales grew 62.5 percent and 53.8 percent, respectively, in the first quarter. |