Jump in California car sales tops national average

The number of new vehicle registrations increased 14.6 percent during the first nine months of 2010 compared with a year earlier, according to the California New Car Dealers Association. Of course, 2009 was a pretty low bar, and this year's numbers, while improved, are well off the highs for 2006 and 2007, before the economic downturn. From the LAT:

Despite the dearth of cars on the best-sellers list, U.S. automakers are making headway in California, which has been a difficult market for them in recent years. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler saw their combined market share grow by 2 percentage points to 30.7%. Buick has nearly doubled its sales but still represents less than 1% of the market. Meanwhile the Japanese brands' share of the market fell by 2 percentage points to 48.6%.

Sales in Northern California have been stronger than down south.