COLORADO, USA — New vehicle registrations in Colorado in the first half of the year surged more than 20% from last year's pandemic-slowed pace, according to the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association.
> Video above: Vehicle registration enforcement will resume April 1 in Denver
The 123,723 new vehicles registered in the first six months of the year were up 21,180 vehicles from the same period last year when state COVID-19 pandemic restrictions forced dealers to sell cars and trucks only online. This year's six-month total also is just 1,112 vehicles fewer than the record 124,835 vehicles sold in the first half of 2019. The increase mostly came from light trucks — which include sport utility vehicles — jumping 25% during the first half, while passenger cars fell less than 1%.
In southern Colorado, registration increases are not quite as strong as the rest of the state, increasing 17.8% in the first half of the year from the same period in 2020 to 17,886 vehicles. Denver area registrations were up 19.4% during the same period to 69,038, while registration numbers on the Western Slope posted the state's largest increase at 29.1%, followed by Northern Colorado at 19.4%.
Registrations have remained strong despite a continuing shortage of semiconductors, supply bottlenecks and inventory shortages in the manufacturing and sales process, said Tim Jackson, the dealer group's president. Demand for new vehicles remains brisk since loan rates remain near historic lows, wages and household savings are increasing and consumers delayed purchasing new vehicles during the pandemic.
> Read the full story at [Colorado Politics]
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