Automobile Dealers Association: Sales Dip in February

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Orange County auto sales took a 5% dip in February compared to last year, according to the Orange County Automobile Dealers Association's monthly report, which tracks auto registrations.

U.S. sales were off 3.4% in the month.

The list of decliners is long: Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, Isuzu, Kia, Saab, Saturn, Volkswagen, Mitsubishi, Honda, Lexus, Nissan, Mazda, BMW, BMW's Mini Cooper, Pontiac, Porsche, Jaguar and Mercedes.

In fact, February was a drab month for just about every auto name.

Saab and Saturn dealers had the biggest percent drop in OC. But relatively few Saturns and Saabs are sold so there can be big swings from month-to-month. Dealers sold 96 Saturns and 27 Saabs in February.

Boosted by its popular 300C, Chrysler sales rose 68% to 379 autos for February.

Also gaining was Toyota, which saw a 5.8% increase to 3,010 autos. Volvo's sales jumped nearly 18% to 171 cars.

Tracking the longer-term trend, Scion's sales were up 66% through the...