Automotive Dealers See Largest Growth in Sales in 2010

On the surface, it looks like good news that automobile dealers, on a percentage basis, saw the largest growth in sales for 2010 among any other businesses. That is, until you reflect on the fact that 2009 was the worst sales year for the industry in almost three decades.

Sageworks, a North Carolina company that analyzes privately-held companies, reported that automotive dealers saw an 18.25 percent increase in sales. The second largest growth was for dentists, who saw their sales jump 7.56 percent (which might be a sign of an improving economy because dental work is something people skip in down times).

Cars.com reports that the auto industry comprised 3.6 percent of the U.S. economy in 2009, or $500 billion of U.S. economic output.

According to a USA Today article, even with the improvement late in the year, 2009 industry sales fell 21.2%, to 10.4 million, compared with 2008 as the recession took its toll, according to Autodata. Sales for 2010 are expected to exceed 12 million.