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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
By all accounts, 2011 has been a good year for Yellowknife's automotive dealers.

Pickup trucks have been strong sellers in Yellowknife this year, dealers say, including at Yellowknife Chrysler as picture here. A majority of dealerships are feeling positive that 2012 will be an even stronger year for sales than 2011. - Thandiwe Vela/NNSL photo

Trucks ruled the market as usual, with Kingland Ford, Yk Chrysler, Autotec, and Yk Motors projecting a strong 2012 ahead.

"Sales in 2011 have been excellent," Yk Motors general manager Greg Boucher told Yellowknifer, noting the General Motors dealership is on track for a whopping 400 per cent increase in fourth quarter sales over the last quarter of 2010.

"We definitely live in a truck market," Boucher said, listing the Chevrolet Silverado and the GMC Sierra as the most popular of his fleet this year.

Kingland Ford is already over last year's numbers in sales, general manager Brent Stevens said, with pickup trucks, most notably the Ford F150, making up about 70 per cent of business.

Yellowknife Chrysler Ltd.'s line of Ram trucks have been "kind of our bread and butter," general manager Myles Longphee said, although minivan sales have been "stronger than ever," and, overall, sales are up about 20 per cent.

"People are getting a little more confident in spending," Longphee said, noting industry has bounced back from the recession of 2008, and the North's economy has been "decent."

"Things are definitely on the rise," he said.

Autotec Ltd. sales manager Barry Walsh also noted about a 20 per cent increase in sales this year at the Kingsway Lexus Toyota dealership.

"Sales have been strong with an expected increase for next year," Walsh said, anticipating another boost in sales in 2012 from a new marketing strategy being launched in the spring. The mid-sized Rav4 and economy car Yaris have been strong sellers this year, catering to "family people," Walsh added.

Consumers have been looking at price and fuel economy as their top priorities, dealers say, and as usual, looking to sport utility vehicles to stand up to the conditions of the North.

The city's automotive dealers are anticipating the economy to remain strong in the North into the new year and through 2012.

At Chrysler, "it's looking pretty optimistic for 2012," Longphee said, although he will be keeping an eye out in case of a recession "double dip."

"We're keeping an eye on it to make sure we're ordering and stocking inventories properly," Longphee said. "But, we're pretty positive around here that 2012 is going to be a better year than 2011."

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