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One of the reasons new-car sales are in such a deep hole is that dealers are steering customers toward used vehicles, according to a new study by automotive data tracker Edmunds.com.

About 511,000 used cars sold during the last three months would likely have been rung up as new-car sales during “normal” economic times, Santa Monica-based Edmunds.com reported.

Two-thirds of those consumers usually buy a new vehicle, but opted instead for a used vehicle because of the tough economic times.

The remaining third went into the buying process intending to buy a new car but at some point switched to a used car, which typically can generate twice as much profit for the dealer as selling a new car.

‘Right now, dealers need to maximize their short-term profitability more than ever,’ Edmunds.com Chief Executive Jeremy Anwyl said.

‘So it is really no big surprise to learn that salespeople are directing some car buyers toward used cars, which have historically delivered a much higher profit margin to the dealer.’

AutoNation, which owns dealerships in more than a dozen states, said used-car sales have been a rare bright spot lately.

‘We’re positioning people to get them in the vehicle that fits their needs in this economy,’ AutoNation spokesman Marc Cannon said. ‘And if new doesn’t fit their needs, we’ll put them in used.

‘We don’t want them walking out the door without a car.’

Falling home prices and the collapse of the stock market, as well as tight credit conditions and job insecurity related to the recession, have caused new-car sales to plummet over the last several months. New vehicle sales in the U.S. were down 37% in January compared with a year ago, forcing automakers to slash production and driving hundreds of dealers out of business.

‘It is safe to assume that many shoppers who normally would be tempted by ‘new car smell’ and the latest automotive technology made a more cost-conscious decision because of economic pressures,’ said David Tompkins, Edmunds.com senior analyst.

Online shopping site Cars.com is seeing the same trend. Consumer contacts with dealers for used cars are up 6% compared with a year ago, the site reported this week.

Luxury cars such as Mercedes and Lexus in particular are showing strength, Cannon said, as are big pickup trucks — which dealers couldn’t give away last summer when gas prices skyrocketed. As a result, prices for some used-vehicle segments are actually beginning to creep up, according to Kelley Blue Book, which tracks used-car values.

Wholesale values of pickups and SUVs rose more than 4% in January, KBB reports, although that wasn’t driven totally by supply and demand. Prices for these vehicles had fallen so much that a sharp rebound was almost inevitable once gas prices retreated.

‘Trucks were cold for most of 2008, and now they’re getting a second life,’ Cannon said.

The improvement in used-car sales isn’t unalloyed good news for the beleaguered automakers who, after all, are in the business of making and selling new cars.

‘No car company executive in his right mind will tell you that he prefers to sell a used car instead of a new car,’ Anwyl said.

But even if it’s not the first robin of spring, signs of life in used-car sales may at least be the first, faint sign that the market for new vehicles is beginning to thaw just a bit.

For one thing, it’s a sign that credit markets may be loosening up — a crucial factor for boosting new car sales — although Cannon said AutoNation was still losing a significant number of sales when customers can’t get financing.

In addition, higher used-car prices can allow dealers to make better offers to new-car buyers who want to trade in their old vehicle. This is especially true in the case of pickups and SUVs, which many dealers wouldn’t even accept in trade last summer because they were almost impossible to resell.

‘This is one of the few indicators we have for the prospect of a modest recovery in new-car sales in the second half of the year,’ Ford sales analyst George Pipas said.

Or, as Anwyl puts it: ‘I wouldn’t pop the champagne, but it’s at least a reason for some optimism.’

-- Martin Zimmerman