A boom in truck sales in Eagle Ford area

Chip Latcham:

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“It’s just been incredible,” said one commercial sales and services manager for a Ford dealership in San Antonio. Other automakers report similar gains in new car and truck sales around SA and Houston, and local auto groups said their fleet business has surged alongside the Eagle Ford boom.

A quick check with Beeville auto dealerships revealed similar sentiments. Rick Smith, general manager of Dave Moore Ford, said sales indeed are revving up.

“We are tied for second in our region (Houston south) in truck sales (select dealers in smaller markets),” he said, bringing smiles to the owners and employees.

Multiple oil field companies are making regular purchases of work trucks, Smith said, adding that a “ton of trucks” have been sent to their dealership and are being sold off their lot.

At Aztec Chevrolet, sales manager Charlie Porter said, “Most definitely” there have been increased sales.

“Our service department has outgrown itself overnight,” he said, adding they have had to expand to handle the workload.

“Our inventory has increased 25 to 30 percent (in vehicles on the lot) to meet the demand,” Porter said. “We’ve had to increase all personnel in our departments,” such as sales and service, because of the Eagle Ford.

Larry Garcia, sales associate with Blake Fulenwider Dodge Chrysler Jeep, said that the newest dealership in town is doing “pretty well so far.”
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This appears to be a combination of commercial fleet sales and sales to workers.  "Work trucks" are usually pretty basic vehicles, but individual purchases tend to have fancier trim and electronic features.   I suspect that RV sales are also doing very well in the area since there is such a shortage of housing.  That probably means the workers need to trucks to pull the RV from one drilling area to another.