More than 2,000 new cars registered in area

Published 4:27 pm Friday, October 27, 2017

If it seems like there are more cars on the road lately — there are.

During a normal month the Jefferson County Tax Collector’s office issues anywhere from 4,000 to 4,500 vehicle titles, Kathleen Spencer, auto director for the tax office, said.

That number has risen steadily over the months, likely due to residents needing to replace their vehicle after Tropical Storm Harvey’s catastrophic flooding.

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In August there were 4,217 titles issued and in September that number rose to 4,796.

October numbers as of the 27th came in at 6,866, she said.

“This is the number of titles from the three offices (Port Arthur, Mid-County and Beaumont),” Spencer said. “We’ve been pretty busy and the auto dealers have said they’re pretty busy.”

U.S. auto sales rose 6.1 percent to just over 1.5 million vehicles, according to Autodata Corp, as Toyota, Honda, Ford, General Motors, Nissan and Volkswagen all posted higher numbers. Of the major automakers, only Fiat Chrysler and Hyundai reported sales declines, according to an Associated Press story dated Oct. 3.

Industry analysts predicted that positive sales would continue through the end of the year fueled by customers whose cars were destroyed by Harvey and Hurricane Irma in Florida.

It is estimated that more than 1 million cars were flooded during Harvey in Texas.