Trucks, SUVs driving increase in vehicle sales in Minnesota

Big vehicles are back in the driver’s seat at Minnesota auto dealerships.

New-vehicle sales in Minnesota rose a modest 4.6 percent in 2014 after a strong 2013 and lower gas prices shaped the market. Sales of trucks and sport-utility vehicles jumped solidly, while sales of cars, including hybrids, dropped.

“Our Focus sales are off, and our trucking and SUV sales are up,” said Chuck Emick, director of sales and finance at Inver Grove Ford-Lincoln.

Across the state, nearly seven in 10 new vehicles sold in 2014 was a truck or SUV. Sales of trucks and SUVs rose 12 percent to 135,839, while car sales fell 6.1 percent to 79,236, according to the Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association. Sales of new hybrid and electric vehicles in Minnesota fell in 2014 for the first time in five years, to 5,608.

Light SUV sales are up probably 15 percent compared with a year ago at St. Cloud Toyota Scion, said Justin Hollenkamp, the dealership’s general sales manager.

http://www.startribune.com/trucks-suvs-driving-increase-in-vehicle-sales-in-minnesota/303318711/