New car, truck and sport utility vehicle sales dropped 16.47% last year in Northeast Ohio, the Greater Cleveland Automobile Dealers' Association says.

The group reported that 197,164 new vehicles were sold last year, down from 236,038 the previous year. It was the lowest annual total since 2010 when 170,124 new vehicles were sold.

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“New vehicle sales in December were exactly in line with 2021, although 2022 new vehicle sales were off as we continued to battle for vehicle availability,” association President Louis A. Vitantonio said in a prepared statement. “The inventories have slowly improved, but newer factors including high interest rates have slowed the pace of sales. We anticipate 2023 being very similar, with consumers having increasingly more in-stock and low-wait choices available in the upcoming year.”

The sales figures are based on vehicle registrations from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, and include dealers in 21 counties: Ashland, Ashtabula, Carroll, Columbiana, Coshocton, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Holmes, Huron, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Richland, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, Tuscarawas and Wayne.

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What's the best-selling auto brand in Northeast Ohio?

Ford bested Chevrolet in 2021 as the best-selling auto brand. But Chevrolet reclaimed the title last year, with 26,377 vehicles sold. Here's the rest of the top 10:

• Ford: 25,580

• Kia: 17,505

• Toyota: 15,096

• Jeep: 13,444

• Honda: 13,194

• Hyundai: 11,437

• Subaru: 10,818

• GMC: 8,099

• Ram: 8,023

Several brands saw major percentage declines in sales. Fiat had a 68% decline, while Buick (51%), Aston Martin (48%), Jaguar (42%), Acura (41%) and Dodge (41%) all saw drops of more than 40%. Honda saw sales slump 39%.

Several brands saw increases, including Genesis (21%) and Mitsubishi (21%). Electric automaker Tesla had a 4% increase.

The Greater Cleveland Automobile Dealers' Association, which is based in Broadview Heights, represents over 280 franchised vehicle dealers.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Chevy tops Ford as the best-selling car brand in Northeast Ohio